Journey to Remembrance
by Rikku-Hoshi
Summary: COMPLETED! He left her again, promising he’d see her again. “Don’t forget me!” were his very last words, which simply left her puzzled. However, when a strange sphere sends Yuna to Zanarkand, she finally understands exactly what he meant.
1. Default Chapter

He was back, but something told her that he wouldn't be there forever. "Don't get used  
  
to this!" she continually ordered herself, and she could tell that he knew too, that he wouldn't be  
  
there forever.  
  
It was raining the day he left. He had stayed up the entire night before; she knew it was  
  
that time. She wouldn't let him out of her sight that day, and knew somewhere in her heart that  
  
for then, she was just going to have to let him go, again.   
  
The two sat on the docks, in the rain. Nobody was around but them, and already he had  
  
started to fade. She wasn't even going to try with a "Don't go," not this time.  
  
"You knew I was leaving, didn't you?" he asked her, to receive a nod from her in return,  
  
"I figured you did."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him, although she didn't really care what his reply  
  
was.  
  
"I didn't want to worry you," he said simply, "Besides, I already knew that you knew."  
  
She nodded. He was almost completely faded now.  
  
"Will you ever come back?" she asked nim, and worried that he'd slip right through the  
  
dock, being that her hands would slip right through him.  
  
He nodded. "There's a way, I'm sure of it," he said, "We may even stumble on it without  
  
knowing. But..." he frowned, as if trying to think of what to say next, "Whatever happens, you  
  
have to promise me something."  
  
"What?" she asked him.  
  
"Don't forget me," he said, and pretty soon she could just barely make him out. He was  
  
fading, disappearing into the rain. Any moment and he'd be gone.  
  
It didn't even take a moment, because the next thing she knew, he wasn't there anymore.   
  
He was gone.  
  
"What did he mean, "Don't forget me"?" she questioned herself for the longest time,  
  
sitting there soaking in the rain, "How could I?"  
  
It was then that she began to sob. 


	2. The Way it Was

Chapter 1: The Way It Was  
  
Some people would have just died. Many would have just cried. Others wouldn't know  
  
what to do. To lose someone you loved twice, not just once. To know that the person that they  
  
love, who they've lost twice, is actually out there somewhere, and not dead at all. To know, that  
  
they just don't exist. They're just not there.  
  
She looked straight ahead, not focusing on one thing in particular, not noticing the smell  
  
of the sea, or the flocking of seagulls, or the sound of the waves crashing on the sand below. She  
  
wasn't focusing on the glowing horizon, or the beautiful sunset. As the sun faded, she didn't  
  
focus on the stars, or the moon, or the howling of the wind. She just looked straight ahead,  
  
expressionless.  
  
Her eyes finally left the area that she had stared at for so long, and now focused on a new  
  
area. She hugged herself, and rocked in the wind, not even noticing the cold feeling it left on her  
  
arms.   
  
Thoughts spewed into her head, but she didn't acknowledge any of them. A song was  
  
then hummed, coming from her closed lips. The hymn was soft, and rather sorrowful. It was a  
  
recognizable hymn, being one that she had heard over and over in her life. A hymn she hadn't  
  
heard for years.  
  
His hymn. The hymn that stopped as soon as he did. She smiled at the thought, and the  
  
hymn stopped. Was she losing it? Was she completely crazy? Was she insane? She was. She  
  
smiled again, thinking to herself about was craziness was as she rocked back and forth.  
  
She had lost him. She was crazily in love with him, insanely in love. Again, a smile  
  
appeared on her lips. This one didn't disappear as soon as it formed like the others had,  
  
however. This one stayed.  
  
She focused ahead again, still smiling. She was insane. She had lost it. She was crazy.   
  
The smile disappeared. Not only that, but she was sad. Terribly sad. As well as terribly lonely.   
  
She allowed the days to flicker by, an entire year had slipped by faster than a dream. Her  
  
thoughts turned bitter at the thought of dreams, and soft tears fell from her eyes.   
  
"I didn't know sadness then," flashed through her mind, and she sat there, two tears  
  
streaming slowly down her cheek and her mouth slightly agape.  
  
No one knew that she came here. She came here every night, at the sunset. Everybody  
  
thought she was sound asleep in her bed. Everyone thought she was a happy person, a person  
  
who had learned to forget about the past.  
  
"Hm. How can I forget the past when I constantly dwell in the past? How can one even  
  
consider moving on, when all they can think of is the past?" A smile came again, thinking of  
  
herself, dwelling in the past every night, like she was doing now.  
  
"You're foolish Yuna," she thought to herself, "Foolish." The smile disappeared. A  
  
misty glaze formed over her eyes, and she felt soon to cry again. Her tears never seemed to stop  
  
flowing. When they weren't flowing on the outside, they were constantly flowing on the inside.  
  
"Please," she felt herself begging her heart, "Stop aching. Even if it's for two seconds. I  
  
just can't take it any more..."  
  
Her heart never would start aching, no matter how much she could beg. She guessed it  
  
never would.  
  
"I should be happy that you at least came back for a little while," she mumbled to herself,  
  
"But somehow, that just made me feel worse." She sighed, staring out into the open sea.   
  
With one lonely tear falling down her face, she stood up, and did something that she'd  
  
done over a hundred times. She whistled.  
  
The shrill, high-pitched noise was spread throughout the sea, and she forced a smile.   
  
"Perhaps," she found herself thinking, "This will be the day that I will hear your whistle once  
  
again?"  
  
However, like usual, there was no return whistle, not counting Yuna's own echo of a  
  
whistle.  
  
This saddened her, and once again her hopes were smashed. Another tear joined the  
  
lonely one, making even more tears follow.  
  
She would then cast one last look at the empty sea, as if hoping to see him there, and  
  
would then walk slowly back to the village. As soon as she was there, she'd sneak back into her  
  
room, and allow her tears to soothe her to sleep.  
  
"Yunie! Oh Yunie!" Rikku shouted, running down the small path toward the temple in  
  
Besaid. Yuna stopped, and faced her cousin, who was looking at her with her eyes shining  
  
brightly.  
  
"Hi Rikku," Yuna greeted her, "How're things?"  
  
"Oh, okay. Things haven't been the same, you know that. Since Paine and you quit..."  
  
Rikku looked up at her cousin, hoping to see some look of guilt across her face.  
  
Yuna just smiled. There was no way she could sphere hunt again. Ever. She just  
  
couldn't handle any more disappointments.  
  
"Uhm, anyway," Rikku said, noticing the strange look that had filled her cousin's eyes, "I  
  
just came on Brother's orders. He said he wants you back as a sphere hunter, no exceptions.   
  
He...I told him to come for himself and tell you...but..."  
  
"But what, Rikku?" Yuna said, not really feeling much for chatting between her bubbly  
  
cousin and herself.  
  
"Okay, I didn't say this, Yunie, Brother did. But I am getting sick of...of..." Rikku looked  
  
away from Yuna's eyes, "You need to just forget!" Rikku's eyes blazed at her cousin, but then  
  
softened. "Oh Yunie! Did I just say that..."  
  
Yuna was feeling sad. Had it ever occurred to Rikku that she didn't want to forget?   
  
Yuna had no problem dwelling in the past. Why did Rikku? Or Brother? Or...Or anybody?  
  
Rikku looked close to tears. What she had just said really bugged her. She was  
  
surprised, however, to notice that Yuna didn't seem upset over her words.  
  
"Look Yunie," Rikku said, taking her cousin's arm and dragging her over to the bench,  
  
"You're what, twenty?"  
  
Yuna was about to answer that she was nineteen, but then recalled slightly that her  
  
birthday had been just a few days earlier.  
  
"Anyway, a lot of girls your age are married, or engaged, or at least have a boyfriend!   
  
What I'm trying to say is, that maybe there's someone else out there for you?"  
  
Yuna looked annoyed at her cousin's words, but still said nothing. "Time to just go with  
  
the flow," she thought annoyed to herself.  
  
"Anyway," Rikku said, "Maybe we could go hunt guys together...Or... Something?"  
  
"Sure Rikku," Yuna replied distractedly, "Whatever you want."  
  
She felt herself sigh, deciding that it didn't matter how many guys they hunted. She  
  
wouldn't fall for any of them anyway.  
  
Rikku looked astonished at her cousin's answer. "Really Yunie? You'd, actually leave  
  
this place and look for a new guy?"  
  
Yuna's inside smiled for the first time in a year. She had to smile at her cousin's  
  
incapability to see that she was just fine the way she is.  
  
"I'll do it for Rikku," she thought to herself. She didn't realize that one party could  
  
change everything the way it did. 


	3. The First Party

Chapter 2: The First Party  
  
"Party time!" Rikku said happily, dragging her cousin outside of the airship. They were  
  
in Luca, where tons of partiers were dancing around, basically making fool of themselves.  
  
Rikku dragged Yuna over to an area where other girls were standing, and said, "We just  
  
wait here 'till we're picked up!"  
  
"Sounds..." Yuna bit her tongue from saying that it sounded like a dumb idea to her,  
  
"Sounds good, I guess."  
  
"Lady Yuna?" a girl about a year younger than Yuna said, "I...I didn't think you went to  
  
parties!"  
  
"She does now!" Rikku answered for Yuna.  
  
"I heard you were like depressed or something," the girl said, and then looked  
  
embarrassed. She began to blush, and backed out of the area.  
  
"Aw, don't mind her words Yunie, that's not true, is it?" Rikku looked up at Yuna,  
  
waiting for her reply.  
  
"Sure isn't," Yuna said, but wondered if it were true. She didn't even know herself if she  
  
was depressed or not.  
  
"Ooh!" Rikku squealed then, "See that guy right there? That's Quell, he's a new blitzball  
  
player for the Goers, I think. He's really good," she gave Yuna a nudge, "And not to mention  
  
really cute!"  
  
He was cute, Yuna had to admit to herself. He smiled a bright smile, and Yuna thought  
  
she could fall in love just with his smile.  
  
"If you want him, I bet you could get him," Yuna heard Rikku whisper to her.  
  
"Oh no," Yuna said, "He's all yours."  
  
Rikku raised her eyebrows and kind of pushed Yuna forward, "Uh-uh! He's looking at  
  
you!"  
  
He was looking at Yuna, and Yuna found herself not caring too much for his intent gaze  
  
on her.  
  
"Maybe he'll ask you to dance," Rikku whispered excitedly to her cousin.  
  
"Oh, I don't-." Yuna said, but then noticed Quell had moved right in front of her, still  
  
gazing at her.  
  
"Uh, hi," he said, and Yuna said "hi" also.  
  
"Would you...uh...like to dance?" Quell asked, smiling one of those charming smiles. All  
  
of the other girls around Yuna were either swooning over Quell, or glaring jealously at Yuna.  
  
"Go!" Rikku whispered harshly in Yuna's ear, "Just dance!"  
  
"Sure," Yuna said, deciding it would be fun to challenge herself. In her head, she came  
  
up with a little bet.  
  
"I'll bet I can get him to like me in one night," Yuna thought to herself as Quell took her  
  
hand and pulled her toward the dance floor, "And then I bet I can break his heart just like that.   
  
Then, maybe I'll point him toward Rikku..."  
  
A slow song came on just then, as Yuna continued to think of her challenge. She placed  
  
her hands gently on his shoulders, and he placed his on her waist. Yuna stood with her arms  
  
fully extended, as if trying to keep her distance between him and herself.  
  
"So," he said, as if trying to start a conversation, "Where has your ladyship been over the  
  
past year?"  
  
"Around," she answered bluntly, trying hard not to stare too deeply into his dark blue  
  
eyes. His hair was brown, and was curly. His smile was rather boyish, and had deep dimples on  
  
both sides of his mouth.  
  
He was holding her close, making her have to lean back to keep her arms straight. She  
  
gave him kind of a warning look, as if telling him not to hold her so close. He either didn't  
  
notice or pretended not to notice.  
  
"You know," he said, "There are a lot of girls out there who wish they were in the same  
  
place you are right now."  
  
"You mean being the High Summoner?" Yuna asked sweetly, even though she knew he  
  
meant dancing with him.  
  
"Uh..." he said, giving her a puzzled look, "Well, so..."  
  
Yuna just gave a sweet smile, watching as he tried to come up with something to say to  
  
her comeback.  
  
He was quiet then, and Yuna began to wonder just how long the slow song was. It  
  
seemed to her that it was lasting forever.   
  
Her arms began to ache from keeping them straight, so she finally decided it best to let  
  
them relax. She allowed her arms to bend, amazed at how close it made her lean into Quell.  
  
The two continued on in silence, without as much as a sound passing between them.   
  
Quell lowered his hands from Yuna's waist onto her hips, making Yuna's eyes roll.   
  
"Who does he think he is?" she thought, feeling thoroughly disgusted. She looked over  
  
across the dance floor and saw Rikku and a young man whom she'd never seen before dancing.   
  
Rikku caught her eye and winked, giggling as she did so.  
  
The song finally ended, and Yuna had never felt so glad to end a dance. A much faster  
  
song came on, but by now Yuna didn't feel much like dancing this.  
  
As if reading her mind, Quell said, "Say, wanna get a drink or something? Just talk?"  
  
Yuna sighed at the thought of just talking. It'd been a while since she had had a real  
  
conversation.  
  
"That sounds great," she said, and led the way to a small little bar.   
  
Quell ordered two drinks, and turned to Yuna.  
  
"So," he said, "Have you seen me play?"  
  
"Play?" Yuna said, trying to look bored.  
  
"Yeah. I'm the Goer's new star player. Your Aurochs kind of turned me down, but I  
  
definitely tried out for them first." Quell said, leaning back and eyeing Yuna with interest.  
  
"I wonder if Tidus is ever this cocky?" Yuna found herself thinking, "I wish he were  
  
here."  
  
"You're a blitzball fan of course, aren't you?" Quell asked, breaking Yuna's thoughts.  
  
"Oh sure," she said, even though her mind was still on Tidus.  
  
"What did you think of our game the other day? Did we smoke those Glories or what?"  
  
Yuna hadn't watched a blitzball game in so long, but she decided to pretend as if she'd  
  
seen the game anyway.  
  
"Oh yeah," she said, "Not that they had a chance against you anyway." She begged he  
  
didn't notice the sarcasm in her tone.  
  
Quell smiled again, and Yuna tried not to look at it. This guy was a total creep, but his  
  
smile was enough to hook you.  
  
"Just be nice," Yuna told herself, "Do it for Rikku. Maybe if this goes well, she'll leave  
  
you alone from now on."  
  
By now the drinks that Quell had ordered had arrived, and Yuna thought about totally  
  
saying something mean about the drink. She didn't though, reminding herself that she just had to  
  
stick to it for now, to convince Rikku that she was fine and over Tidus, even if she wasn't.  
  
The two drank in silence, which made Yuna feel relieved, being that she didn't really  
  
want to talk. However, she was growing more and more annoyed at Quell's constant stare. He  
  
seemed to be checking her out rather thoroughly.  
  
"Maybe I'll tell him off by the end of the night," Yuna began to think.  
  
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Quell asked, breaking into Yuna's thoughts once again.  
  
"Sure," Yuna said, hoping that if they were doing something, he couldn't stare at her as  
  
much.  
  
The two stood up, and began to walk away from the commotion that the party was  
  
bringing.  
  
"So," Quell said, walking close to Yuna, "Do you come to parties here very often?"  
  
"Uh, not really," Yuna said, "My cousin kind of made me come."  
  
"Not into parties?" Quell asked her.  
  
"Not really," Yuna said.  
  
"That's too bad," Quell said, "You know, everybody's wanted to see you get married now  
  
for some time."  
  
"How about you Quell," Yuna said, not wanting to talk about her getting married, "Why  
  
aren't you married?"  
  
"Haven't found the right girl yet," Quell said, and Yuna tried hard to ignore the look that  
  
he cast on her.  
  
"Well I'm not that girl!" Yuna's head screamed at him, and she found herself hoping he  
  
could read minds.  
  
"Wanna sit?" Quell asked, and Yuna noticed that by now they had reached the docks, and  
  
they were far away from the party. The stars were shining quite brightly, and seemed to  
  
mesmerize Yuna.  
  
"Sure," she said slowly, and on the bench that Quell had pointed to.   
  
The two sat there, in silence, and Yuna's mind had drifted elsewhere, into the stars.  
  
"It's real pretty, isn't it?" Quell asked, and hearing his voice turned Yuna's thoughts bitter  
  
again.  
  
"Sure is," she said anyway, ignoring her thoughts.  
  
"You know," he said softly, "You're really beautiful."  
  
Yuna's eyes rolled, but she still seemed to smile at his compliment.   
  
"Maybe," she thought, "I'm being too harsh? I mean, I haven't even given Quell a  
  
chance. And his smile is charming..."  
  
Quell leaned his head toward Yuna's then, and whispered, "You're the most beautiful girl  
  
I've ever laid my eyes on."  
  
Was it the drink? Yuna couldn't tell. But her bitter thoughts seemed to stop. Only  
  
momentarily, however.  
  
Quell's arm went around Yuna, as if he knew when to take the moment. He leaned his  
  
head against Yuna's, and Yuna decided that maybe he wasn't so bad after all.  
  
"Maybe," she thought, "We can take it nice and slow...I don't know..."  
  
Quell leaned even more towards Yuna and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. Yuna felt her  
  
body freeze. Even her mind seemed to stop.   
  
"Wait," she thought, glad her thoughts had started back up, even if her body still felt still,  
  
"Something about that kiss just didn't feel right."  
  
Before Yuna could react, her head faced Quell's and he smiled, making her body feel  
  
even more numb.  
  
Then, he pulled her head toward his and kissed her, and as Yuna sat there unable to move,  
  
her thoughts went ahead.   
  
"Hey!" her mind raced, "Stop it!"  
  
Quell stopped then, and Yuna's thoughts stopped. Perhaps he just couldn't control  
  
himself?  
  
That wasn't the case. Quell went for her neck then, and Yuna felt herself shudder. She  
  
was still unable to move, and couldn't imagine how shocked she must have looked.  
  
He went back up to her mouth, and even as Yuna tried, it was still open-mouthed. Yuna's  
  
eyes closed in a tight closure, and she finally seemed to regain of her body, and not just her  
  
thoughts.  
  
She shoved him away from her and stood up quickly.  
  
"Just who do you think you are!" she screamed angrily, "We barely know each other, and  
  
there you are, making out with me! I'd bet anything that tomorrow you wouldn't even remember  
  
me! You...You slime ball!"  
  
"Hey!" Quell said, surprised at her actions. He stood up too, and grabbed Yuna's arm,  
  
"And just where do you think you're going?"  
  
"Let me go!" Yuna ordered him.  
  
"Oh yeah?" he said, "Make me!"  
  
Yuna hit him in the arm hard, but he just grabbed her other arm in his.  
  
"Leave me alone!" she said, and kicked him hard in the shin. He dropped her arms, and  
  
she ran from him. He caught up to her, and grabbed her arm again.  
  
"I said leave me alone!" Yuna said, more and more bitter thoughts rushing through her  
  
head.  
  
The two were now fighting, dangerously close to the docks. Yuna broke free from him  
  
and said, "What is it with you? You think that just because you're some star player that you can  
  
just get whatever you want?"  
  
"Well yeah," he said, looking at her with a sneer on his face.  
  
He went toward Yuna again, but she had taken enough. She jumped into the ocean,  
  
deciding that she didn't care what happened.  
  
She swam as fast as she could farther away from the dock that he still stood on, but to her  
  
surprise he jumped in after her.  
  
"I can get whatever I want!" he yelled after her, and was swimming nearer and nearer to  
  
her quite fast, "And I'm not going to let you turn me down like this!"  
  
Yuna took a deep breath and dived down as far as she could. She went down the very  
  
bottom of the fairly shallow water, and tried to swim away. Being that he was a rather fast  
  
swimmer, Quell was gaining on her any way.  
  
"I wish you were here!" was all that raced through Yuna's head as she continued her  
  
swim.  
  
Suddenly, in the midst of everything, a strange looking sphere that was lying on the  
  
bottom caught her eye.   
  
"A sphere?" she thought, "What's a sphere doing here?"   
  
She swam over to it, forgetting about Quell. He seemed to have stopped also, as if  
  
wondering what she was doing.  
  
Yuna swam over and picked up the sphere, trying to decide if it would still play back after  
  
being in the water. She felt herself running out of breath, but didn't seem to care. The sphere  
  
was the strangest looking sphere she'd seen in her life.  
  
It was orange and glowing, and spherical, just like all of the other spheres. But something  
  
was different about it. Yuna just couldn't figure out what it was.   
  
Curious, Yuna pushed the play-back button, but was greeted by a blinding light. The next  
  
thing she knew, she was knocked unconscious. 


	4. So This is Where You've Been

Okay, I don't own the characters, they're mostly from FFX. Thanks for all of the reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 3: So This is Where You've Been  
  
Yuna hit her head on something, but was unable to open her eyes to figure out what it was  
  
that her head had hit upon. There was loud noise everywhere, surrounding her.   
  
"Where am I?" she questioned to herself.  
  
Finally, her eyes were forced open, and she stood up.   
  
"Did I like hit my head or something?" she questioned herself, for unless her eyes were  
  
mistaken, she was in a giant metropolis. There were machina buildings everywhere, as well as  
  
people everywhere as well. It was dark, and Yuna could just barely make out the stars.   
  
Shaking, Yuna looked up and down the streets, trying to figure out where she was. She  
  
knew where she was, though. She just couldn't seem to admit it to herself.  
  
"Zanarkand?" she questioned herself, "I must be dreaming!"  
  
Yuna spun around, looking about her, feeling herself smile. "Zanarkand, Zanarkand,  
  
Zanarkand!" raced through her head over and over.  
  
People were everywhere in the streets, talking excitedly, and many of them were carrying  
  
blitzballs under their arms.  
  
"Hear about that game against the Abes?" a girl said, as she passed Yuna.  
  
"The Abes...?" Yuna thought, "I must be in Zanarkand!"  
  
Then, without thinking, she ran up to the girl and said, "Excuse me, but, you were talking  
  
about the Abes?"  
  
"Who else would we be talking about?" the girl's friend said, snorting as she said this.  
  
"Tell me, please," Yuna said, trying not to sound too terribly desperate, "Who is their star  
  
player?"  
  
Another snort passed through the girl's friend.  
  
"Tidus, who else?" the girl said, and her friend's eyes rolled dreamily.  
  
Yuna had hoped for her to say this, but something about it didn't sound right.   
  
"Tell me," Yuna said, "Has Sin attacked?"  
  
"Sin?" the girl said, "Are you a nut or something?"  
  
"Uh..." Yuna was speechless. She didn't understand what had happened. Everything was  
  
so confusing. The last thing she remembered was that sphere. The sphere! She reached in her  
  
pocket, trying hopelessly to find the sphere.  
  
The two girls looked at her with puzzled stares, and finally went on with their business.   
  
Unable to find the sphere, Yuna decided to at least try to find Tidus.  
  
"Hey!" she asked the two girls who were now walking away from her, "Where can I find  
  
the Abes? Do you know?"  
  
"Believe me, if we knew," the first girl said, "We'd be there right now with them." The  
  
two rolled their eyes then, and walked away.  
  
"No..." Yuna sighed.  
  
"Tidus has to be here!" Yuna thought excitedly, "This must be where he's been.   
  
Hmm...That sphere must have somehow transported me here! I have to find Tidus!"  
  
Yuna's heart had lifted, and all she could think about was finding Tidus, even if she had  
  
no idea of the first place to look for him.  
  
Biting her lip, in a rather non giving up way, she found herself wandering the city,  
  
amazed at everything about it.   
  
She was so into wandering around, that she wasn't even really paying attention to where  
  
she was going. All of a sudden, something hit her in the head with a pretty good force.  
  
"Uh..." she said, rubbing the area. She looked on the ground and noticed a blitzball that  
  
was sitting there, guessing that it must have been the ball that had hit her in the head.  
  
"Hey, mind giving us that back?" a voice said.  
  
"Oh, sorry," Yuna said, feeling too flustered to look up. She scooped down and picked  
  
the ball up. "Here, sorry," she said, and looked up, to throw the ball over to its own. However,  
  
before she could do so, her mouth dropped open.  
  
"You giving me the ball or what?" It was Tidus. He stood there, his hand reached in  
  
front of him waiting for the ball, and was surrounded by a group of people. Two of them were  
  
guys, wearing similar clothing to Tidus', and the others were all girls.  
  
"Tidus!" Yuna cried, dropping the ball and running up to him, "I can't believe it's really  
  
you! And in Zanarkand of all places! Just wait until I..." Yuna stopped. Tidus had backed up  
  
and was giving her the strangest look.  
  
"Some fans," one of the guys whispered to Tidus.  
  
"The ball?" Tidus said again, hiding a laugh.  
  
"But...But...Tidus?" Yuna said, doing the best to hide the disappointment in her voice.  
  
"Forget it, I'll get it..." Tidus said, and went past Yuna and picked up the ball, spinning it  
  
on his finger, "See you later, Chicky."  
  
"Chicky?" Yuna cried, "What...What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Oh, want an autograph?" Tidus said, taking a pen out of his pocket, "Where do you want  
  
it?"  
  
The group laughed, and Tidus' eyes rolled. Finally, he signed the ball he had in his hand,  
  
and said, "Here ya go, you can brag to your friends about this, I guess."  
  
He handed the ball to Yuna with a cheeky smile.  
  
"But Tidus!" Yuna said, "You...I..."  
  
"Whatever," Tidus said, making a strange mimic to his friends, "Come on guys, we can  
  
go over to my place!"  
  
Yuna just stood, clenching the ball and watching as the one she'd spent so long searching  
  
for left, with his entourage following him, all of them laughing at Yuna.  
  
Finally, Yuna dropped to her knees and sobbed into her ball.   
  
"What's wrong with you?" she cried into the ball, "Why don't you remember me?  
  
"Why doesn't Tidus remember me?" Yuna continued her sobbing, but then stopped.   
  
"Wait a minute! I can't lose track of him!" She stood up then, still clinging the ball, and ran  
  
after him, although she decided to stay a little farther behind.  
  
Tidus was making all kinds of show-off movements, whether he was doing some sort of  
  
aerobics trick, or just laughing out loud, he was definitely doing it all to show off.  
  
Yuna watched from a distance, not wanting Tidus to make a fool out of her.   
  
"It can't really be you, can it?" she asked in her head. He seemed so much different. He  
  
looked basically the same, just slightly older looking. He still had the same sparkle in his eyes,  
  
and the same quirky smile. Everything else, however, seemed so much more different.  
  
People were all over him, and now he was making some fighting moves, laughing as he  
  
did so.   
  
Yuna looked up and saw giant spheres hanging from buildings, each of them showing  
  
Tidus' smiling face.  
  
"Why is this making me somewhat sick?" Yuna said softly to herself.  
  
"Sh!" she heard Tidus say loudly to his group, "My interview is on!"  
  
Everyone was silent, and sure enough Yuna looked up at the sphere to see that it was  
  
some interview with Tidus.  
  
"It's been thirteen years since your father died," the newscaster was saying, "How are you  
  
handling it?"  
  
The Tidus on the sphere leaned back. "Aw, just fine," he said, "Never cared much for my  
  
old man."  
  
"You didn't care much for your old man?" the newscaster said, "But Jecht was amazing!   
  
Incredible! How could you not care for him?"  
  
Yuna looked back down at the Tidus who was in front of her. He was glaring at the  
  
sphere and had his lip sticking out in a kind of angry pout.  
  
"Come on guys," he said, lifting his right nostril in disgust, "I'm sure you'll be able to  
  
buy a copy of my interview."  
  
"It's as if nothing ever happened with Tidus in Spira. Am I dreaming?"   
  
Everybody nodded and smiled, and the group continued their way to Tidus' house, with  
  
Yuna still following behind.  
  
Finally, they reached the end of the docks, and it was now that Yuna realized that most of  
  
Zanarkand was built on bridges across the river.  
  
"Strange," she said softly, "Everything Yevon went against..."  
  
"Welcome everybody!" Tidus said, opening the door to the strangest looking house she'd  
  
seen in her life.   
  
Everybody went in, following Tidus, and Yuna cautiously followed behind.   
  
People were everywhere, but Yuna was too busy taking in her surroundings. The house  
  
was amazing. Machina was everywhere, there were sphere screens everywhere, music was being  
  
pumped out of a machina contraption, and people were dancing everywhere. It was something  
  
like Yuna had never seen in her entire life.  
  
"Oh wow," she said out loud, forgetting for a while where she was, "This is amazing!"  
  
Yuna finally stopped her gawking, and decided the best thing to do would be to find  
  
Tidus and talk to him alone, without his million friends surrounding him.  
  
She snuck up the table area, which was surrounded by spheres, where Tidus was talking  
  
to a bunch of people who surrounded him. Yuna hid in the background, hoping the many  
  
people would begin to disperse. They did, and soon it was just Tidus and five others, all sitting  
  
there talking and laughing.  
  
"Hear what Lea's been up to lately?" one of the other guys asked Tidus, "Seems to me  
  
she's found a new guy."  
  
Tidus smiled. "Whatever, she always comes crawling back to me."  
  
"And you take her back?" another guy asked Tidus, and Yuna wondered what they were  
  
talking about.   
  
"'Course I do," Tidus said, a strange smile popping on his face, "Of course, after I have  
  
some fun!"  
  
"Ha!" the guy at his right said, slapping a high-five to Tidus, "Definitely know what  
  
you're talkin' 'bout!"  
  
"Who doesn't?" Tidus said, giving a high-five to the guy on his left.  
  
"Hey guys!" two girls came up to the table, after pushing Yuna to the side.  
  
"Hey!" the guys greeted them.  
  
"Where's Lea?" Tidus asked, smiling as he did so.  
  
"You know her," a girl with reddish-blonde hair said, "She's out. She tries to make you  
  
jealous."   
  
"Maybe if you make her jealous in return..." the black-haired girl said, "Then she'd stop  
  
her running around?"  
  
"What are they talking about?" Yuna wondered to herself.  
  
Tidus looked up at the ceiling as in thought. He smiled, and shook his head. Then, the  
  
two girls giggled and were off.  
  
"So, you gonna go out with someone new?" one of Tidus' friends asked, looking quite  
  
interested in the subject.  
  
"Naw..." Tidus said, "I've got better things to worry 'bout."  
  
"You gonna dance with someone?" Tidus' other friend asked as he eyed a girl who  
  
walked past.  
  
"Naw," came Tidus' reply, "Go ahead."  
  
His two remaining friends looked at each other and smiled, and then left, to Yuna's relief,  
  
Tidus was now alone.  
  
Dropping Tidus' autographed ball that she still clung in her hands, Yuna found herself  
  
slowly going up to where Tidus was sitting, and taking the seat next to him.  
  
He was reading a magazine titled, "Blitzball of Today," and wasn't really paying any  
  
attention to Yuna.  
  
"Uhm, hi," Yuna said, smiling, "Remember me?"  
  
Tidus just barely glanced over his magazine, and rolled his eyes.  
  
"You're just another weird obsessed fan," he said, and looked back at his magazine,  
  
"Might as well just leave, you. I can call security at any time."  
  
"No, uh, Tidus," Yuna said as Tidus returned to his magazine, "There's something you  
  
and I need to discuss."  
  
"Want another autograph?" Tidus said, acting quite uninterested.  
  
"No...uh..." Yuna tried to decide where to start, "My name is Yuna," she finally said,  
  
deciding that at least saying her name would be a start, "And your name is Tidus."  
  
"Yeah, yeah...Whatever," Tidus said, flipping the page of his magazine.  
  
"We met each other in Besaid, in the temple, remember?" Yuna continued.  
  
Tidus put down his magazine and looked at her.  
  
"You some sort of nut?" he asked, shaking his head, "Because I sure as hell haven't ever  
  
heard of Besaid. That some sort of District?"  
  
"Uh..." Yuna didn't know how she could ever convince a non-remembering Tidus that  
  
they knew each other.  
  
"You and I met three years ago...but I've known about you for thirteen years. I met your  
  
father."  
  
"My old man died thirteen years ago," Tidus said, turning back to his magazine, reading  
  
an article about himself.  
  
"No," Yuna said, "He didn't die until three years ago. He was in Spira. That's where I'm  
  
from. We met each other, and...we went on a journey to defeat your father, who had become a  
  
monster, and..."  
  
"You obsessed fans get weirder and weirder," Tidus said, not looking up from his  
  
magazine as he said this.  
  
Rolling her eyes, Yuna was feeling somewhat defeated. Finally, she sighed, and put her  
  
thumb and fore finger in her mouth, creating a high, shrill whistle.  
  
This actually startled Tidus, and he turned around swiftly and stared at her. She lowered  
  
her hand from her mouth slowly, praying to see some sort of recognition in his eyes.  
  
Tidus' eyes looked Yuna over slowly, and Yuna wondered what it was he was thinking.  
  
"You're not from this district, are you?" he asked, laying his magazine down.  
  
"No...I'm not from Zanarkand," Yuna said, feeling somewhat uneasy as Tidus' eyes  
  
continued looking her over.  
  
"Not from Zanarkand," Tidus said slowly, "So where are you from?"  
  
"Spira, Besaid, where you and I first met."   
  
"Spira...Uh..." Tidus quit eyeing Yuna and looked her in the eyes, "Can't say I've heard  
  
of that District."  
  
"I told you, I'm not from Zanarkand." Yuna was wondering if she was really getting  
  
anywhere, "Are you even listening?"  
  
"Yeah," Tidus said, and eyed her over again, "Sure am."  
  
"Anyway," Yuna continued, "So we went on this journey. And you told me you hated  
  
your father, and..."  
  
"How'd you know that?" Tidus looked up at her startled, "I don't usually tell the press  
  
that I hate my dad! Oh sure, I may say I don't like him..."  
  
"You told me yourself!" Yuna said, wondering just how much attention he was paying  
  
her.  
  
"Oh, sure, continue," Tidus said, smiling, and looking her in the eyes again.  
  
"So, anyway, you and your father reunited, and then we killed him."  
  
"I killed my old man!" Tidus said loudly, interrupting Yuna, "That rocks, then what'd I  
  
do?"   
  
"Uh...We had to send Sir Auron..."  
  
"Auron? You know Auron too? Hey, where is that big goof?" Tidus smiled to himself,  
  
"Was kind of fond of him..."  
  
"He's sent. He's...Dead."  
  
"Sent where?" Tidus said, as if he hadn't heard Yuna's last few words, "On vacation or  
  
something? Ooh, did he check out District 7? I tell you that place rocks!"  
  
"No Tidus," Yuna said, "he's...dead."  
  
"Dead? Did I kill him too?"  
  
"No, he's been dead all..." Yuna was beginning to wonder what the use was of explaining  
  
everything to Tidus.  
  
"So, you traveled here, from your weird district, to find me and tell me all of this?" Tidus  
  
finally cut her story straight, "But why don't I remember?"  
  
"I don't know," Yuna said, "I was hoping you could tell me."  
  
"So what, uh, we dated or something?" Tidus was eyeing Yuna now with a strange smile  
  
spreading onto his lips.  
  
"Well...uh..." Yuna couldn't believe this. It was as if the one she loved was a complete  
  
stranger. Could this really be him?  
  
"Well in that case," Tidus said, a strange glow in his eyes and smile, "I'll be happy to get  
  
to know you...er...again."  
  
"Really? You believe me?" she should have known. This was Tidus after all. Surely  
  
he'd remember soon enough.  
  
"Of course I believe you! Whatdya think I am, some kind of non-caring jerk?" Tidus  
  
leaned back and rested his head in his arms. "So, like, have we kissed or anything? Or have we  
  
done more than that?"  
  
"Uh..." Yuna leaned back from Tidus, who was glancing her over yet again.   
  
"Anyway," Tidus finally said, "Wanna dance or something?"  
  
Yuna smiled. The first real smile she'd smiled in a while.   
  
"I'd love to!" she exclaimed happily.  
  
"Great," Tidus said, casting a quick glance at his unread magazine, and then held out his  
  
arm for Yuna to take.  
  
Yuna took his arm, and he led the way onto the dance floor, in Tidus' rather large house.   
  
Yuna studied the way the people around them were dancing, being that it was a little different  
  
than what it was in Spira.  
  
She finally gave a somewhat weary smile and danced along, trying to watch the others so  
  
that she would fit in a little better.  
  
"So this is Zanarkand!" she thought, somewhat happily as she danced, "I'm finally here,  
  
with Tidus, even if he doesn't remember me..."  
  
It was getting extremely late, Yuna noticed as she danced to a couple of songs, but Tidus  
  
and the rest didn't appear the least bit tired.  
  
A slower song came on, and Yuna looked around to see what the rest were doing. Not  
  
that it mattered, however, as Tidus just put his arms around Yuna's waist and pulled her near to  
  
him, as if it were nothing at all.  
  
Yuna's head rested on his shoulder, and it was then that she noticed the many glares she  
  
was getting from the rest of the girls who looked over their dates' shoulders. She was slightly  
  
surprised at this, but was really too tired to care.  
  
"When do we sleep?" she asked Tidus sleepily.  
  
"There'll be plenty of time for sleep later," Tidus replied, not the least bit tired.  
  
"Later?" Yuna sighed, feeling her eyelids grow heavy, "Oh, right, Zanarkand never  
  
sleeps..."  
  
"Got that right," Tidus murmured almost to himself and looked around the room, as if  
  
looking for someone.  
  
"Who're you looking for?" Yuna asked, looking over at Tidus.  
  
"No one," Tidus replied bluntly, but loosened his grip on Yuna as he said it.  
  
Pretty soon the slow dance ended, as well as a few others. The night was beginning to get  
  
extremely late, with Yuna growing more and more tired.   
  
Before she knew it, she had danced the night away, and the sun was coming up, blinding  
  
her already tired eyes.  
  
People were leaving, and Yuna noticed that there were far less people then there had been  
  
before.  
  
Tidus excused himself when there were four people left and went and talked to them.   
  
Feeling awkward, Yuna migrated to a couch and sat down, trying hard not to fall asleep.  
  
"Yeah, see ya," she heard Tidus say from the other side of the room, but found she  
  
couldn't really place where he was.  
  
The next thing she knew he was standing in front of her, and the room was suddenly  
  
empty and silent.  
  
"Well," he said, sounding somewhat bored, "Party's over."  
  
"Uh..." Yuna mumbled, trying to think of something to say.  
  
"Lemme guess," Tidus said, "A fan as obsessed as you has no place to stay."  
  
"But..." Yuna started, and looked away from Tidus' eyes, "I thought you believed me  
  
when I told you my story!"  
  
"Oh, you mean the one where I killed my dad and Auron?"  
  
"Uh, you didn't kill Auron..." Yuna said, only to be interrupted by Tidus.  
  
"Whatever," he said, looking quite uninterested, "The point is, I get a two hour rest, and  
  
then I have Blitz practice, so, I'll see you around, okay?"  
  
"But Tidus," Yuna said looking around, "I'm not from Zanarkand! Where do you expect  
  
me to stay?"  
  
Tidus' eyes rolled.  
  
"I don't know...Outside on a bench or something?"  
  
"But!" Yuna's eyebrows were scrunched, and she was feeling angry. Here she had  
  
thought that she had managed to get through to him.  
  
"Okay, fine," Tidus said, as his eyes gave a slight roll, "I suppose...uh..." He appeared  
  
deep in though for a slight time, and then a smile crept onto his face. "Why don't you just make  
  
yourself nice and comfy on the couch for now, and...and I'll see you a little later, okay?"  
  
"Uh...sure," Yuna said, giving a queasy smile, for she wasn't quite sure what had  
  
convinced Tidus to let her stay.  
  
"Hey, and look," Tidus continued, taking a seat next to her with a cheeky little smile, "I  
  
want you and me to date, you know, since we killed Auron and my old man together..."  
  
"Uh?" Yuna was feeling more and more confused. One minute he wants her out, and the  
  
next they're dating, "Oh, and Tidus," she said, as he slipped his arm around her, "We didn't kill  
  
Auron."  
  
"Right, we sent him on vacation."


	5. Birthday Sphere

Chapter 4: Birthday Sphere  
  
Yuna awoke on the couch feeling actually quite awake. She jumped up, wondering to  
  
herself where Tidus was.  
  
"Tidus?" she called, wondering what the time was. She remembered him saying that he  
  
was taking a two hour nap and then going to Blitzball practice.  
  
"He must be at his practice," Yuna said aloud, and looked around the room she was  
  
standing in. It was a total disaster, with food bits and everything else everywhere.  
  
"Someone doesn't know how to clean..." she said to herself, and actually found herself  
  
stooping down to clean the room. In a little while, she had filled three garbage bags of junk and  
  
actually had the room looking rather nice.  
  
Smiling, she made her way into the next, and found herself curious to know what the rest  
  
of the house looked like. She walked into the next, which appeared to be the kitchen. It was an  
  
odd looking kitchen, with very little food in it. Yuna made her way to the next room, which was  
  
a room filled with trophies that were in terrible need of dusting.   
  
The next room was a lovely marble bathroom, and Yuna smiled at the thought of it  
  
actually being clean, and put it onto her "to do" list.   
  
The room next to the marble bathroom was the bedroom, which was by far one of the  
  
largest rooms in the house.  
  
The bed was a large, rounded one, and the blankets were everywhere.  
  
"He could have at least made the bed," Yuna said with an eye roll, as she made the bed.   
  
Clothes were scattered everywhere on the floor, and Yuna tried not to feel too disgusted as she  
  
piled up all of the dirty laundry.   
  
The room was clean then, and Yuna smiled to herself. She ran back into the bathroom  
  
and did a quick cleaning job, surprising herself at how much nicer it looked. The trophies were  
  
dusted then, and the kitchen was tidied up as well, and then Yuna made her way into the next  
  
room, where more large spheres were, all of them showing a blitzball game.  
  
As Yuna put recorded spheres into their places, one in particular caught her eye. It was  
  
labeled, "Tidus' Seventh Birthday"  
  
Curiously, Yuna played back the sphere, to see a smiling seven-year-old Tidus waving  
  
into the sphere.  
  
"Hey mommy!" he said, smiling as he said so, and looking at all of the decorations.  
  
"How old are you?" a woman's voice asked, who Yuna guessed was his mother's.  
  
"Seven," the little Tidus said, and he stuck his tongue out, "I'm almost as old as you!"  
  
His mom laughed, and she said, "Flattery isn't going to get you any more presents!"  
  
"I know!" Tidus said, and ran over to a wrapped gift that lay on the floor.  
  
"Wait just a second," his mom said, "We should wait until your father gets home."  
  
Tidus stuck his lip out in his famous pout and crossed his arms.   
  
"Do we have to?" he asked, frowning as he did so.  
  
"Yes, I believe we should," Tidus' mom said, and then the sphere turned off.  
  
It was black for a while, and then it came back on. It was now late, and Tidus was lying  
  
on his stomach staring out the window.  
  
"Your father should be back any minute now," Tidus' mother was saying, but she had a  
  
worried tone in her voice.  
  
"Yeah, sure," Tidus mumbled, not really paying attention.  
  
Suddenly the door opened, and Jecht stood in, and two other men were there. They were  
  
laughing and talking excitedly about something.  
  
"It's about time," Little Tidus mumbled, but Jecht didn't seem to notice.  
  
"How was the game?" Tidus' mom asked her husband.  
  
"It was great!" Jecht said, "You should have been there!"  
  
"I know..." Tidus' mom's voice dragged, "But you know, it's Tidus' birthday."  
  
"Birthday?" Jecht said, and looked over at Tidus, who Yuna could tell was deliberately  
  
not looking his way.  
  
"I'm seven," Tidus' little voice said, "Starting today, anyway. Now can I open my  
  
present?"  
  
"Present?" Jecht said, "Do you deserve it?"  
  
"Yes, I do!" Tidus said, standing up and grabbing his gift, "Now can I open it?"  
  
"Go ahead," his mom said, and Tidus began tearing at the gift.  
  
It was a box, and inside of it was a blitzball.  
  
"Oh great, another Blitzball," Tidus said, tossing it aside.  
  
"Tell 'im what else he got already," Jecht said to Tidus' mom.  
  
"Not only that Tidus," his mom said happily, "But you were allowed into the year round  
  
school for serious Blitzers!"  
  
"Huh?" Tidus seemed shocked.  
  
"Don't act stupid," Jecht said, "We're sending you away to an all year camp."  
  
"Why?" Tidus asked, "Aren't the camps here good enough?"  
  
"Oh, they're good," Jecht said, laughing, "But how else are we supposed to get rid of  
  
you?"  
  
Tidus frowned, and Yuna saw tears coming out of his eyes.  
  
"Oh, go and cry, just because your old man wants you to be good." Jecht said, laughing as  
  
he did so.  
  
Tidus ran off, flying out of the door.   
  
"Even if he goes to that camp, he'll never be able to beat his old man," Jecht laughed, and  
  
was followed by his two friends. "Anyway," Jecht continued, "I called a babysitter for Little  
  
Crier over there. We're invited to the after-party of a lifetime!"  
  
The sphere dimmed then, and was over.  
  
Yuna was amazed at what she saw. She stared at the sphere for quite some time,  
  
absolutely amazed at what she'd viewed.  
  
"Good thing I killed him, huh?" she heard Tidus say, and looked up.  
  
He was standing in the doorway, looking quite hurt.  
  
"I...I..." Yuna didn't know what to say.  
  
"You obsessed fans," Tidus just said, shaking his head, "Just can't stay out of my  
  
business. You even cleaned the house, didya? Wait, you didn't go upstairs, did you?"  
  
"I didn't even know there was an upstairs," Yuna said, putting the sphere away, "And I'm  
  
sorry, I didn't try to be in your business."  
  
"Whatever," Tidus just said, and he threw a blitzball down in the corner.  
  
"Hey!" Yuna said, picking it up, "Go put it away! I just cleaned!"  
  
Tidus spun it on his finger and looked at Yuna for a while. Finally, he tucked the ball  
  
under his arm, and said, "Did we really take care of my old man?"  
  
"Yeah..." Yuna said, "But it wasn't quite like that. We didn't just go and kill him. In  
  
fact...You know, he loved you..."  
  
"Ha! Now that's a laugh," Tidus said, throwing his ball into the wall, "As if!"  
  
Yuna picked the ball up once again, and said, "So, do you believe my story yet?"  
  
"It's far too good to be true," Tidus said, as Yuna threw him the ball, "Where do you  
  
want me to put this?"  
  
"In the trophy room with your other five hundred," Yuna said, smiling.  
  
Tidus scrunched his nose, "You're as bad as Auron was!" Then, he shook his head and  
  
went into the trophy room.  
  
"Don't just throw it in there!" Yuna shouted to him, smiling as she did so.  
  
"Too late!" she heard Tidus yell back to her, "And there's no way I'm picking it up!"  
  
"Fine then," Yuna yelled, "Don't. You know I'll just pick it up later."  
  
"And just how long are you staying?" Tidus asked as he appeared back from the trophy  
  
room.  
  
"Uh, don't know," Yuna said, "As long as it takes for me to convince you that my story is  
  
true."  
  
"Then what?" Tidus asked her.  
  
"We'll go back to Spira. Together! Wakka and Rikku, and everybody else will be really  
  
glad to see you, you know."  
  
"Wakka and Rikku?" Tidus said, "You really need help. They your imaginary friends?"  
  
Yuna sighed and shook her head. It really was going to be hard to convince Tidus that  
  
what happened in Spira really happened.  
  
"Tidus?" she said finally, "I couldn't make all of this up. Some day, you'll realize that  
  
what I'm saying is the truth. Unless I'm stuck in some weird reality..."  
  
"Oh, I believe you enough," Tidus said, sitting next to her, "You're kind of cute to be an  
  
obsessed fan."  
  
"Uh...Thanks...I guess," Yuna said, trying to figure out if what Tidus had just said was a  
  
good thing.  
  
"I mean, you don't get lucky enough. I mean, come on, there's thousands of hot girls out  
  
there, right?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"And none of them are totally obsessed fans. I mean, sure, everyone's a fan, but I can't  
  
just snap my fingers and there they are sleeping with me, right?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"But then there's those ones who'd do anything for me, right?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"But hello! Can you say, huge, five-hundred pound chicks?"  
  
"Uh..." Yuna just stared at Tidus, as he blabbed, and then finally shut up.   
  
"Er, I mean..." he looked away from the strange look Yuna was giving him, and then  
  
looked back at her and smiled.  
  
"What can I say?" he said, shrugging, "I totally speak my mind!"  
  
"Oh, I see," Yuna said, hoping that Tidus was just trying to be funny or something.   
  
"Anyway," Tidus said, leaning his head in his arms, "In conclusion, you're not the  
  
five-hundred pound, "I'd do anything for you" type."   
  
Yuna smiled. "Well, you sure have me figured out," she said, and gave a slight giggle.  
  
"And then again, you're not the, "hey, you're popular, so I'll go out with you" type either,  
  
are you?"  
  
"Tidus," Yuna said, feeling somewhat hopeless, "I told you. I met you in Spira. I fell in  
  
love with you. You disappeared, came back, and disappeared again. Then, I found this sphere, it  
  
transported me here, and you don't remember me."  
  
"And why do I not remember any of this happening? I don't think it's something I could  
  
just forget." Tidus was now fidgeting with his thumb, which had a bandage over it.  
  
"What did you do to your thumb?" Yuna asked him, as he took the bandage off.  
  
"Got in a fight and the idiot bit my thumb," Tidus said, seeming indulged in the process  
  
of taking off his bandage, "Don't worry though, I showed him who was boss."  
  
"Was that today, at your practice?"  
  
"Sure was. It was actually...Uh...It was a ref. He said my shot wasn't a fair one, and the  
  
next thing you knew, there we were, in the middle of a huge scrape, and the moron bit my thumb.   
  
We'll see if he's reffing after this little incident."  
  
"Oh, I see," Yuna said, as Tidus re-wrapped his thumb, "Was it a bad bite?"  
  
"Let's just say the water where I was at was turning red," Tidus said, and seeing that  
  
Yuna's face had gone white, covered himself saying, "I mean, naw, it wasn't that big. But my  
  
stupid trainer, Francimo, or whatever his name is, was all like, "Hey! You need a bandage on  
  
that!" I was all like, "Yeah right, monkey-."  
  
He looked up from his bandage at Yuna who was listening to him with a strange look on  
  
her face.  
  
"Anyway," Tidus said, "You hungry or something? I guess we could go get something to  
  
eat."  
  
It was then that Yuna realized how hungry she was. She couldn't even recall the last time  
  
she had eaten.  
  
"That sounds really good," Yuna said, rubbing her stomach as she said this.  
  
"Good, 'cause I'm starved," Tidus said, and then smiled in a thoughtful way, "Then, we'll  
  
have a huge party here. Even larger than the last one!"  
  
"Okay, that sounds good, I guess..." Yuna said, looking at Tidus in her own thoughtful  
  
way, "Are you ever alone? You know, by yourself?"  
  
Tidus looked at her as if he didn't comprehend the question.   
  
"Sure I'm alone," he said, smiling, "It's not like I go to the bathroom in public! Anyway,  
  
come on, we can go the pub that's down the street from here. It's awesome, 'cept for the fact  
  
that it has tons of lame pictures of my old man..."  
  
Tidus jumped up, and Yuna reached her hand for him to help her up, but he just ran to the  
  
door, ignoring her.  
  
Sighing, Yuna hopped up too, and ran to the door, following Tidus.  
  
"Do you run everywhere?" she asked him as she caught up to him.  
  
"Yeah! If we want a party, we'll have to hurry. We'll have to have it before all of the  
  
games are on," Tidus replied.  
  
"Are your Abes playing?" Yuna asked.  
  
"Not tonight," Tidus repeated.  
  
"Are you going to watch a game?"  
  
"I could," Tidus said, slowing down a bit, "But that's boring. I usually go train by myself  
  
or something."  
  
"So you are alone," Yuna said, slowing down too, "You go train all by yourself?"  
  
"Yeah, usually," Tidus said, giving Yuna a questioning look, "Why do you care?"  
  
"I don't know," Yuna shrugged, "I just always wondered how you spent your days, that's  
  
all."  
  
"You sure you're not an obsessed fan?"  
  
"Positive."  
  
"Here we are," Tidus said, rounding the corner, "We can just have a seat outside and then  
  
the waiter will take our order. We can see the stadium from here; it's definitely pretty awesome."  
  
"You sure have things figured out," Yuna said as she followed Tidus onto the deck, and  
  
watching as he plopped into a seat. Yuna took the seat ahead of him, and picked up the menu  
  
that was lying on the table.  
  
The waiter came by then, and said "hi" to Tidus, and the two became engaged in a  
  
conversation about Blitzball.  
  
"Well Tidus!" the waiter said with a chuckle, "Are you having the usual?"  
  
"You know it!" Tidus replied.  
  
"And how about you, Miss?" the waiter asked Yuna.  
  
"Uh..." Yuna quickly scanned the menu, at all of the odd food that was on there, "I'll  
  
have what Tidus is having."  
  
"Okay," the waiter said, and Yuna guessed he was jotting down the word, "usual".  
  
He was off then, telling them that their food would be on its way.  
  
"So," Yuna said, lying her napkin neatly on her lap, "We're having a party?"  
  
Tidus gave Yuna a questioning laugh, and smiled, "Actually, I'm having a party," he said,  
  
somewhat nastily, "But you're invited."  
  
"Uh, okay..." Yuna looked off, trying hard to figure Tidus out. One second he acted as if  
  
he like her, and the next he acted as if she was nothing but an annoyance. It was almost as if he  
  
had two personalities. She just couldn't figure him out.  
  
Tidus closed his eyes then, as if trying to think of something.  
  
"Sorry," he said, shaking his head, "I didn't try to sound rude or anything."   
  
"Oh...Um...Don't worry," Yuna said, "I didn't think you sounded rude..." As if to prove that he  
  
wasn't rude, Tidus took the napkin that he had scrunched up into a ball and placed it neatly on  
  
his lap also.  
  
Tidus stared at Yuna, as if deep in thought.  
  
"You know," he said finally, "I've been doing some thinking...And...Well...I uh...Yeah..."  
  
"You...uh...Yeah?" Yuna said, wondering what Tidus was trying to say.  
  
Tidus leaned back in his chair, placing his arms behind his head, and not looking away  
  
from Yuna.  
  
"I kind of like you," he said finally, and smiled, "You're not so bad."  
  
"Okay..." Yuna said, wondering what to say.  
  
"Anyway," Tidus said, "The point is, I'm not trying to sound mean, or anything. It's just  
  
that...Well...Any of the other girls I've ever dated were kind of popularity hogs. You know, they  
  
were after my popularity, or my good looks, or my money, or..." Tidus continued naming off  
  
things, smiling broader and broader each time he mentioned one of them.  
  
"Man am I awesome," he finally said, and Yuna gave him a questioning look. "Okay,  
  
back in your district," Tidus finally continued, "You were popular, right?"  
  
"Uh...I wasn't in a district," Yuna reminded Tidus for what seemed like the hundredth  
  
time.  
  
"Uh, yeah, in Spita, or whatever district it was, you were popular though, right?"  
  
"Spira..." Yuna said, rolling her eyes, "And yeah, I was fairly popular, I guess. I was the  
  
High Summoner."  
  
"Right, the High Summoner," Tidus said, smiling and leaning closer to Yuna, "So did  
  
you have guys all over you?"  
  
"Well, things in Spira are a little different..." Yuna said, but then recalled all of the  
  
marriage requests she'd received and Quell, "Well..."  
  
"See, you and I are on the same boat," Tidus said, leaning back again, "Girls just can't get  
  
enough of me."  
  
"Was he always this cocky?" Yuna found herself asking herself.  
  
"Would you look who's here..." Tidus mumbled almost to himself, and leaned back in the  
  
chair.   
  
"Huh?" Yuna said, and looked behind her. A girl with a cute short blonde hair cut was  
  
coming up, holding hands with a black haired man. Tidus was eyeing the girl with a strange look  
  
on his face, and had his eyebrows raised.  
  
"Hey Lea," Tidus said, "That your new guy?"  
  
"Sure is," Lea said, sounding rather nasty, "That your new girl?"   
  
"Sure is," Tidus said, matching Lea's tone, "Anyway, heard you were throwing some  
  
party tonight. That true?"  
  
Lea's blue eyes rolled, and she said, "Get to the point, Tidus. I'm not stupid. I know  
  
you're having a party tonight also."  
  
"Well," Tidus said, smiling, "I was going to invite you, but seeing that you're obviously  
  
tied up, I guess I won't."  
  
"Like I would need to come anyway," Lea said, rolling her eyes again, "My party's going  
  
to be a huge success."  
  
"You realize that your popularity is going to fade a little quickly, don't you?" Tidus just  
  
said, sounding quite sure of himself.  
  
"Oh, sure. C'mon," Lea said, turning around, "We'll go eat someplace else. Oh, and  
  
Tidus? Just remember who's dad is head referee, okay? Toodles!"  
  
The blonde girl flipped her short hair, and her escort and her left the area.  
  
Tidus smiled, more to himself, and leaned even further back in his chair, letting his  
  
napkin blow off of his lap.  
  
"Who's that?" Yuna asked him.  
  
"Her? Just some girl I know," Tidus said, "She's always been nothing but a pain. I can't  
  
stand her."  
  
"She's kind of pretty," Yuna said, looking deep in thought.  
  
Tidus smiled, as if he was going to laugh, and said, "Yeah, but she's a major jerk."  
  
The food came then, and the two ate in silence. Yuna had no idea what she was eating,  
  
but she didn't mind it too much.  
  
"Done?" Tidus said after a while, and laid some coins on the table, and stood up  
  
stretching as he did so, "Now come on, party time!"  
  
"How do people know you're having a party?" Yuna asked, running after him toward his  
  
house.  
  
His eyes rolled. "When am I not?" he said, shaking his head as he ran, "Now come on!   
  
It's party time!" 


	6. The Second Party

Whoops, I guess I should probably be putting in a disclaimer here now, shouldn't I? Well, I  
  
don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2, or any of the characters. Let's see, if I did...I don't think I'd  
  
be sitting here writing about it! I'd have some larger ideas...Anyway, here's chapter five! Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 5: The Second Party  
  
In no time at all Tidus had the place ready for a party. Just like that. He made a couple of  
  
quick errands, leaving Yuna to sit at his house, not really knowing what to do. Pretty soon food  
  
was set up everywhere and music was blaring.  
  
"Look, it's a live band or nothing," Tidus was now saying, talking to a small little man,  
  
who was looking up shakily at Tidus, "So, go get me one!"  
  
"L-Look here, Tidus," the man was saying, his voice shaking as he said so, "I d-don't  
  
know if I c-can just g-go get a b-band just l-like th-that! I-I'm s-s-sorry!"  
  
Yuna was watching the scene from her spot on the couch, listening as Tidus ordered the  
  
small man around. Finally deciding to be of assistance, she stood up and walked over to the two,  
  
and the small man seemed incredibly relieved to see that he wasn't alone with Tidus.  
  
"Can you believe this?" Tidus said angrily to Yuna, "I hire this rotten loser as my  
  
assistant, and he can't even get me a live band!"  
  
The man looked like he was about to cry, and had this look in his eyes that said, "Please  
  
don't hurt me!"  
  
"That's okay, isn't it?" Yuna asked above the blaring music, "You already have music.   
  
Why do you need a live band?"  
  
Tidus gave her an annoyed look, and said, "'Cause Lea's gonna have one, you know."   
  
Then, he smiled and turned to Yuna.  
  
"Hey, didn't you say that in your district you were the High Singer, or something like  
  
that? Isn't that why you were popular, 'cause you sang?"  
  
"Actually," Yuna started, only to get cut off by Tidus.  
  
"You'll be the singer, and I've got some friends who owe me favors," Tidus said, smiling  
  
greedily, "Beat that, Lea!"  
  
Then Tidus stopped, in thought and sighed, "Actually," he said to Yuna, "I need you for  
  
something else." He looked around, as if still in thought, and said, "I'll just hire someone  
  
myself."  
  
He ran off, leaving Yuna alone again, with the small man, who was now looking up at  
  
Yuna as if she was a lifesaver.  
  
Yuna smiled, and said, "I'm sure Tidus wouldn't have hurt you."  
  
The man looked like he could faint. "You don't know him v-very well, d-do you?" was  
  
all he said, turning white as he said so.  
  
"Of course I know him well," Yuna said, but then realized that she didn't really. He was  
  
so much different in Zanarkand than he was in Spira. "Would he really have hurt you?"  
  
The little man turned even whiter. He was so pale that Yuna thought he would faint, or  
  
even die in any given moment.  
  
"Maybe you should sit down," Yuna said slowly, leading the way to the couch.  
  
"Oh no, Tidus would kill me if I sat anywhere in his house," the man said, and sighed,  
  
"I'd better just leave."  
  
Yuna thought of assisting that the man stayed, but was still too deep in thought about  
  
wondering if Tidus really would have hurt him.  
  
"Why do things have to be so...so difficult?" Yuna said out loud as soon as the little man  
  
had left.   
  
"Okay you guys," Yuna heard Tidus say as he entered from a back door that Yuna hadn't  
  
even realized existed, "I want some heavy stuff, and then slow stuff, then heavy stuff, and then  
  
slow stuff. Got it? And believe me, you won't be gettin' paid if that's not what I get!"  
  
The group of straggly looking men nodded, and Tidus nodded back to them, and smiled at  
  
Yuna. As the band began to set up, Tidus took Yuna's arm and said, "Nice lookin' bunch, eh?"  
  
Yuna assumed he was talking about the band, but wasn't really sure. After all, she didn't  
  
find them exactly "nice looking".  
  
Tidus laughed, as if he could read her thoughts. Then, he sighed happily and said,  
  
"That's what you get when you don't play Blitz," he gave a slight little chuckle, as if what he  
  
said was quite funny, "Now, come on Yuna, let's go greet the guests!"  
  
Tidus ran to the door, with a sighing Yuna following at his heels. He stood by the door,  
  
with a huge smile on his face, as he awaited his guests.  
  
"They'll be here any-" Tidus stopped, and examined Yuna, "Shoot! Yuna, your outfit  
  
is...Uh...Shall we just say, exotic. Go...Uh...Whatever, just say it's the newest trend or  
  
something, okay?"  
  
"Okay..." Yuna said slowly, wondering why it mattered what she wore.  
  
"Yeah! Here comes the guests!" Tidus said, and then got a strange glint in his eyes. He  
  
smiled at Yuna, and put his arm around her waist, still smiling as an entire crowd came to the  
  
door, all of them exchanging hellos to Tidus, and then heading into his house, either turning on  
  
the sphere screen and watching Blitzball, or dancing, or eating.  
  
Tidus just continued to stand there, his arm still around Yuna, the same smile on his face,  
  
and he still had the mysterious glint in his eyes.  
  
Before long, the place was packed with people, and Yuna was amazed at how fast the  
  
place had filled. With each new person, Tidus' smile grew wider and wider.  
  
"What are you smiling at?" Yuna finally asked, as the music died down somewhat.  
  
"Nothing," Tidus just smiled even wider, "But look, here comes Lea. I knew she'd get no  
  
people!"  
  
It was true. Yuna watched as the pretty blonde girl came up toward Tidus' house with the  
  
same escort, looking quite unhappy.  
  
Tidus pulled Yuna closer to him, smiling extremely wide.  
  
"I thought you were having a party!" Tidus shouted to Lea.  
  
"I...I am," Lea just said, walking up to the door, glaring angrily at Tidus, "We'll just see if  
  
the Abes win tomorrow!"  
  
Tidus gave a short laugh. "I was going to let you in, you know. But if you're going to be  
  
like that..."  
  
Lea looked even angrier, and finally gave her hair a flip and said, "Forget it. I won't  
  
mention anything to my dad...Yet..."  
  
"Come on in," Tidus greeted her with a smile, moving himself and Yuna out of the way.   
  
Lea gave Tidus a glare, and then Yuna a death glare, and then walked into the house, pulling her  
  
escort along.  
  
Tidus was looking extremely satisfied with himself, and then turned back to Yuna.  
  
"Wanna dance?" he finally asked, and Yuna thought about asking him what the big deal  
  
was about Lea being there, but decided against it.  
  
Without waiting for Yuna's answer, Tidus dragged her into the center of the dancing area,  
  
and once again Yuna found herself watching everybody else to make sure she was dancing  
  
correctly.  
  
A slow song came on, and Tidus held Yuna extremely close, even closer than Quell had.   
  
It didn't bother Yuna, however, but she realized that Tidus didn't seem to focused on what he  
  
was doing. He was smiling at something, or someone, a smile that said, "Ha! Who's better?",  
  
but Yuna couldn't tell who he was smiling at.  
  
"Hey Yuna?" Tidus then whispered loudly to Yuna, "Wanna go get something to drink?"  
  
Before Yuna could answer, Tidus dragged Yuna out of the dance floor, smiling the same  
  
cocky smile as he had while they were dancing.  
  
He led her to the bar area, and, still smiling jumped into a seat, still looking over at the  
  
dancing area, and still smiling at that unknown object.  
  
"What are you looking at?" Yuna finally asked, deciding she couldn't take much more of  
  
it.  
  
"Huh?" he said, turning around as if he had forgotten Yuna was even there, "What?"  
  
"What are you looking at?" Yuna repeated.  
  
"Oh, just the people," Tidus said quickly, still gazing in that direction, although his smile  
  
was gone. He turned then, and put his gaze on Yuna, making her not sure if she should feel  
  
awkward, or happy that he was focusing on her.  
  
"So..." Yuna just said, as if not exactly sure what to say, trying to just think nothing of  
  
Tidus' gaze.   
  
There was silence between the two then, and Yuna finally decided to look back at Tidus.   
  
She was surprised, however, to find that he looked quite indecisive about something.  
  
"What's wrong?" Yuna asked good naturally.  
  
Tidus didn't answer right away, and continued to have an indecisive look about his face.  
  
"Nothing's wrong," he said, finally, shaking his head, as if to clear his thoughts, "It's  
  
nothing..."  
  
He turned in his seat then, and Yuna looked behind her, to see that Lea and her escort  
  
were heading straight for them.  
  
"Don't say a thing," Tidus said sharply to Yuna as Lea came nearer to them, her gaze  
  
directly on Tidus.  
  
"Why not?" Yuna asked, but Tidus didn't have the time to answer as Lea came and took  
  
the seat next to Tidus, and her escort in the seat next to her.  
  
"Tidus," Lea said in a sweet, but somewhat whiny voice, "Do you mind if your friend  
  
here and me have a private conversation?"  
  
"Yeah right Lea," Tidus said, looking over at Yuna quickly, as if warning her not to say  
  
anything.  
  
"I just want to congratulate her," Lea said, still sounding sweet, "That's all."  
  
"You can do that with me here," Tidus said, and stood up, offering his hand to Yuna.  
  
"It's okay," Yuna said, "I'll talk with her. It's no big deal."  
  
"No you won't," Tidus said, giving Yuna a rather unhappy look, "Not right now,  
  
anyway."  
  
"Why not?" Yuna asked, not understanding why Tidus was so bitter toward this Lea girl.   
  
Yuna figured that without Tidus around, she just might be able to find out why.  
  
"'Cause I want to dance," Tidus said, taking Yuna's hand and practically lifting her off of  
  
her seat onto the floor, "Let's go. See you later Lea."  
  
He had to drag Yuna back onto the dance floor, but Yuna could tell something else was  
  
on his mind other than dancing.  
  
"Why couldn't I talk to her?" Yuna asked as they danced, looking suspiciously at the  
  
nervous looking Tidus.  
  
"Didn't I already tell you Lea's a major jerk? Who knows what she wants to talk to you  
  
about. She's just...uh...Not someone you frolic with, know what I mean?"  
  
"I don't," Yuna admitted, looking up at Tidus, who was too busy looking toward Lea.  
  
Tidus finally looked away from Lea and sighed.  
  
"I don't feel much like dancing anymore, you?"  
  
Yuna shook her head. She didn't either. She didn't understand at all what Tidus'  
  
problem was.  
  
"Wanna watch a game?" Tidus asked, although he seemed as if even that would bore him  
  
at the moment.  
  
"Getting bored at your own party?" Yuna teased.  
  
He smiled, and then gave a curt little nod.  
  
"Maybe," he admitted as he lead the way to a couch, plopping himself down onto it.   
  
Yuna plopped down next to him, wondering why Lea seemed to make him so upset. He just  
  
stared at the sphere screen, although Yuna could tell he wasn't paying the least bit of attention to  
  
what was going on in the Blitzball game.  
  
Yuna continued to sit there for some time before looking up toward the bar area, shocked  
  
to see Lea, companion-less, staring at her.   
  
As soon as Lea caught Yuna's eye she gave a sweet little smile, and Yuna gave a smile  
  
back, wondering just what it was that had happened between her and Tidus.  
  
Tidus caught Lea smiling and shot her a nasty look, and then faced Yuna, as if trying to  
  
distract her from looking at Lea.  
  
"Yuna?" he said, and Yuna watched as he glanced up quickly from Yuna to Lea, and gave  
  
a strange smile. His voice had turned low, and he was staring Yuna in the eyes, except for the  
  
every moment now and then when he looked up over at who Yuna assumed was Lea.  
  
Finally, he gave a quick sigh, and then next thing Yuna knew, their lips had met and he  
  
was kissing her, smiling as he did so.   
  
So many thoughts flew into her head as she sat there, finding that she was kissing back,  
  
although she didn't know if she was controlling it. It felt right, but didn't feel like the right  
  
time...Or place.   
  
Tidus finally drew back, and Yuna found herself wondering what her expression looked  
  
like. She figured she looked somewhat clueless as to what had just happened.  
  
"Sorry," Tidus said, noticing Yuna's expression, "Couldn't help myself there!" He  
  
looked up behind Yuna again, still smiling, and Yuna turned around to see who he was looking  
  
at, if it was Lea. However, no one was there.  
  
Tidus was blushing now, still smiling, although he had the look in his eye as if he was  
  
going to do it again any moment.  
  
Yuna began to blush then too, although she still felt puzzled over what had just happened.   
  
Had she really won Tidus' heart? All ready? Just the day before-was it only the day before?-  
  
Tidus had thought of her as some weird obsessed fan. And now he couldn't control himself  
  
around her? It was all too puzzling for Yuna. Still, she couldn't help but hope that somehow  
  
that kiss had given him some recognition of a certain kiss that had passed between the two years  
  
earlier. It certainly had for Yuna...  
  
"Was that too much?" Tidus asked, breaking up Yuna's many puzzled thoughts.  
  
"Huh?" Yuna blushed, "No...I mean, yes...But...Uh..."  
  
Tidus laughed, shaking his head, not taking his eyes off of her, "According to you, that  
  
wasn't our first, was it?"  
  
Did it bring some recognition? Yuna's heart fluttered, at the hope of him remembering  
  
something, but his eyes were gazing at her, as if he was waiting for her to answer his question,  
  
being that he had no clue to the answer.  
  
"Is it going to be our last?" Tidus asked, throwing a pouting look on his face, although  
  
Yuna could see he was still smiling underneath.  
  
"I...Uh..." Yuna was still wearing that same expressionless look, and she had no idea what  
  
to say, or even what to do for that matter. Maybe she needed a drink of water, or some fresh air?   
  
Something?  
  
"I need some fresh air," Yuna finally said, deciding that perhaps she could clear her head  
  
then.  
  
"Sure thing," Tidus laughed, "Wanna be alone?"  
  
Yuna just nodded, even though she wasn't sure if she really wanted to be without him.   
  
Not anymore, anyways...  
  
"If you want," Tidus said, "You can go out through the back entrance. There's a deck out  
  
there overlooking the water, and there won't be many people out there." Tidus shook his head,  
  
still smiling, and said, "Besides, I've got to go talk to that guy over there," he nodded toward a  
  
large brown-haired man, "We need to discuss tomorrow's game. Uh, when you're done, just  
  
come on over, 'kay?"  
  
Yuna just nodded again, and Tidus smiled, and put his hand on her shoulder, raised his  
  
eyebrows at her, and then left.  
  
It took a couple of seconds before Yuna was able to stand, and she found her way to the  
  
back entrance that she had seen Tidus enter from only a couple of hours earlier with the straggly  
  
looking band.  
  
She went outside onto the deck, glad to feel a soft breeze on her, as she took a deep breath  
  
into the air, and then sighed dreamily.  
  
"I've finally found you," she thought to herself, as she lay her head on her hand and stared  
  
into the horizon, "And I had my doubts about you not remembering me, but...It's all okay now.   
  
We're in Zanarkand, a place I've wanted to see my entire life. Tomorrow your game is going to  
  
be on, and I'll finally be able to watch you play, in the stadium all lit up at night... Maybe we can  
  
even go see the sunrise tomorrow...Who knows..."  
  
"Hi Yuna," Yuna then heard a familiar voice say, as it awoke her from her many  
  
thoughts.  
  
"Hi Lea," Yuna said pleasantly, nodding to the pretty blonde, "How are you?"  
  
Yuna didn't notice a sneer on Lea's face... 


	7. The Warning

Chapter 6: The Warning  
  
"So," Lea said, standing beside Yuna, "That's a dreamy look on your face. Are you  
  
thinking of a certain Blitzball player?"  
  
She was sounding so sweet. Yuna couldn't figure out why Tidus thought so poorly of  
  
her. Even if something had happened between the two, that didn't automatically make Lea a  
  
jerk, did it?  
  
"Maybe," Yuna admitted, smiling to answer Lea's question.  
  
"Thought so," Lea said, sounding as if her and Yuna had been friends for a lifetime,  
  
"How did just a fan like you end up with him? Did you sleep with him or something?"  
  
Yuna gave Lea a questioning look, which Lea just replied with her sweet smile. Was  
  
Tidus really like that? What better way than to ask Lea...  
  
"Does Tidus do that?" Yuna asked, hoping she didn't sound as clueless as Lea made her  
  
seem.  
  
"Do what?" Lea asked innocently, smiling sweetly yet at Yuna.  
  
"Uh, you know, sleep with just anybody, fans..." Yuna said, looking at the ground as she  
  
said so. Surely that wasn't true...  
  
"Hm, it does depend," Lea said, which caused Yuna to smile, but only for a short time as  
  
Lea continued, "They have to be good-looking enough for his liking. So, basically not just  
  
anybody..." Lea's sweet smile had now turned into a smirk.  
  
"Are you and he friends?" Yuna finally asked, wondering how Lea knew all of this.   
  
Certainly they weren't friends though, Tidus hated Lea.  
  
"You could say we're old friends..." Lea said, smiling her sweet smile again. Then, as if  
  
deciding to cut to the chase, Lea said, "You know, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but  
  
Tidus is probably only dating you for his own good, not yours. He's probably just trying to make  
  
other girls jealous, or something like that. You see, Tidus would never just fall for some fan."  
  
Yuna was quite taken aback at what Lea had just said.   
  
"Uh, are you sure you're old friends?" Yuna asked Lea suspiciously, "Because believe  
  
me, Tidus isn't just playing me. We...Uh...Love each other." Yuna didn't know if her last  
  
statement was one-hundred percent true, but it was definitely more true than what Lea was telling  
  
her.  
  
Lea gave a snort. "He has you fooled," she said, shaking her head sadly.  
  
"That's not true," Yuna said, growing angry. She could finally see what Tidus had been  
  
talking about. Lea wasn't some kind of sweet "I want to be your friend!" type, but just a  
  
nuisance who must enjoy being in other people's business. "I'm not just some fan, anyway.   
  
Tidus and me have known each other for some time."  
  
Lea shook her head, and looked soothingly at Yuna.  
  
"Yuna," she said, still shaking her head, "He has you fooled. Big time. Well, when he  
  
breaks your heart, just don't come running to me, because I'm going to just give you a, "I told  
  
you so", okay?"  
  
"Don't worry, he's not going to be breaking my heart," Yuna said, looking at Lea angrily  
  
as Lea left the area, heading back into the house.  
  
"Don't worry about the game, you know I'll take care of it!" Tidus laughed, causing the  
  
entire group around him to break off into fits of laughter.   
  
Tidus had no idea how long he'd been standing there, talking with his teammates and  
  
other people about the next day's big game, but he didn't seem to care, either. He wasn't  
  
thinking of Yuna at all, figuring that she'd be coming back in at any moment anyway.  
  
That was until he saw Lea come back into the house, chuckling as she did so.   
  
"Great, what did she say to Yuna?" Tidus thought, watching Lea grab a few of her  
  
belongings and leave the party.  
  
"Know what I mean, Tidus?" one of Tidus' linemen was saying, nudging him on the  
  
shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, sure man," Tidus said, although he was still to focused on wondering what it was  
  
that Lea had said.  
  
"Well, you'll have to excuse me guys," Tidus said, too anxious to know what Lea had  
  
done to Yuna to listen to his teammates rants, "I'll see you guys tomorrow at the game."  
  
He slipped out the door, trying to stay unnoticed, deciding that he didn't want all of  
  
Zanarkand to know what it was that Lea had said or done to Yuna, and found Yuna staring off  
  
into the distance, making him wonder if Lea had said something mean or hurtful to her.  
  
Yuna was standing there, staring into the distance again, although she wasn't really  
  
thinking about anything in particular.  
  
She was so zoned-out that she didn't hear Tidus approach her.  
  
"Hey!" he greeted her, trying to sound cheerful as he come up to her side, "How's it  
  
goin'?"  
  
Yuna seemed somewhat surprised to see him standing there, but smiled her greeting and  
  
turned back to the sea.  
  
"So," Tidus said, drumming his fingers on the deck's railing, "Did you and Lea have a  
  
nice discussion?"  
  
Yuna looked at Tidus suspiciously, wondering if he'd spied on Lea and her.  
  
"Don't get any wrong ideas," Tidus said quickly, noticing the look Yuna had shot at him,  
  
"I just saw Lea come from here, that's all. I was just wondering what she said..."  
  
There was some silence besides the waves crashing to the sand as Yuna wondered how to  
  
even ask Tidus about what Lea had told her.  
  
"Are you just going out with me to sleep with me?" Yuna asked, not looking at Tidus,  
  
and keeping her focus on the horizon.  
  
"So that's what she told you..." Tidus said, trailing and looking deep in thought. He  
  
smiled then, and said, "And she thinks she has me figured out! No, I'm not going out with you  
  
just to sleep with you, but if you'd like, I can arrange that!" Tidus had meant it as a joke, but  
  
seeing that Yuna didn't seem in the mood for his jokes, immediately bit his tongue for saying it,  
  
"But, you're always welcome on the couch, or...I am...Or..." he said quickly, even though he  
  
suddenly felt tongue tied by it all.  
  
"I told her you weren't," Yuna said, which shocked Tidus. Here he figured she had  
  
believed every word Lea had spoken.  
  
"You mean, you didn't believe Lea when she told you that?" Tidus asked, amazed at his  
  
good luck. Usually Lea had a way of charming people into believing everything she said,  
  
whether it was true or not.  
  
Yuna shook her head. "I know you better than that, I hope," Yuna said, smiling meekly at  
  
Tidus.  
  
He smiled back, not knowing that it melted her heart every time he threw a smile her way.  
  
The two stood in more silence then, before Tidus finally smiled and said, "It's pretty  
  
peaceful out here, don't ya think?"  
  
Yuna nodded. "And here I thought Zanarkand was all city bustle!" she teased, smiling as  
  
she did so.  
  
Tidus looked at her, his smile fading away, and then looked back at the sea.  
  
"You really aren't from around here, are you," he said finally, "What's it like, at your  
  
home?"  
  
Yuna wanted to say, "You should know. You've been there!", but knew better. She  
  
swallowed, finally able to believe that Tidus didn't know anything about Spira, or anything about  
  
what had happened three years ago, or even two. At least he was finally able to believe that she  
  
wasn't from Zanarkand.  
  
"It's a lot smaller seeming," Yuna said, "I live on an island called Besaid Island. There  
  
are no tall buildings or houses by the sea. Only small little huts and the temple. It's a lot greener  
  
there too, there's lots of trees and...I don't know, more tropical stuff. It's really beautiful, but it's  
  
still nothing compared to Zanarkand."  
  
Tidus nodded, as if he understood. Yuna looked up at him and gave a small wry smile.  
  
"Bring back any memories?" she asked him hopefully.  
  
He shook his head slowly, not looking back at her.  
  
"But if it matters," he said after a few seconds of silence, "I think I kind of believe your  
  
story."  
  
"Just kind of?" Yuna asked.  
  
Tidus nodded. "Just kind of," he said, smiling and giving a head cock, "So, wanna head  
  
back in? The party should be dying down around now, being that every one goes to the games."  
  
Yuna nodded, and Tidus led the way back in, saying goodbye to the few people who were  
  
left.   
  
"Now what?" Yuna asked, as soon as the two found themselves alone.  
  
Tidus just shrugged, and helped himself to some of the leftover food. He looked  
  
somewhat tired, or perhaps he was just in thought, Yuna wasn't quite sure.  
  
"Let's go for a walk!" he said finally, and not waiting for a reply as he grabbed her hand  
  
and pulled her up.   
  
He led her out the door, walking quickly.  
  
Yuna smiled and said, "Do you ever just walk? Do you always have to run?"  
  
"I was walking," Tidus said, throwing Yuna another one of his heart-melting smiles, "Just  
  
really quick, that's all."  
  
"Well slow down! Let's take in the view!" Yuna said, as Tidus reluctantly slowed down.  
  
Tidus smiled and slowed down, and then looked down at their enclosed hands, as if  
  
surprised to see they were still together.   
  
"What's wrong?" Yuna asked him, as he stared blankly at their clasped hands, as if trying  
  
to decide something.  
  
"Oh, nothing!" he said, smiling, even though Yuna noticed he got that thoughtful look in  
  
his eyes again.  
  
The two continued on in silence then, with Tidus continuing to look in thought, and Yuna  
  
busy taking in her surroundings.  
  
"How come the streets are nearly empty?" she asked Tidus then, as it dawned on her that  
  
there were very few people out and about.  
  
"They're at a game, or a party," Tidus said, "You know that up to six teams can play at  
  
the same time? The stadium has three pools, the main one, and then the two side ones. Right  
  
now there's only a game going on in the main one, being that it's a one-year tournament game.   
  
Tomorrow we'll probably play the winners from tonight's game. Yeah, tomorrow's going to be a  
  
busy day."  
  
"How so?" Yuna asked, "If the game's not until later at night..."  
  
Tidus interrupted her. "That doesn't matter," he said, "We have a two hour practice in  
  
the morning, and then we have to do photo shoots and fan signings. Then we get a two hour rest,  
  
and another practice, and then it's party time for an hour at the big "before-game party" and then  
  
it's the game, and then the big "after-game party". It all depends on if we win or not though. If  
  
we win, we totally rock the after-game party, but if we lose, we just show up and shake hands  
  
with the refs and stuff...And..." Tidus stopped suddenly and looked at Yuna, an alarmed look on  
  
his face.  
  
"What?" Yuna asked, wondering what the alarm look was for.  
  
"What are we going to do with you?" he just asked, and was now looking disgusted.  
  
"What do you mean?" Yuna asked, but Tidus tugged her around the other direction,  
  
smiling as he did so.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll have my old pal suit you up. Tomorrow you and he will be like best  
  
friends, 'kay?"  
  
"Huh?" Yuna just asked as Tidus pulled her around through a narrow passage and then  
  
swiftly across a bridge.  
  
Finally Tidus and a confused Yuna reached a house, and Tidus ran up to the door,  
  
knocking.  
  
"Hey Zed!" he yelled as he knocked, "Open up!"  
  
The door opened to a smiling young man about Tidus' age who had auburn hair and blue  
  
eyes.  
  
"Hey, long time no see! You been busy?" the man who Yuna supposed was Zed said.  
  
"Yeah, you know, same ol', same ol'," Tidus said, laughing, as Zed invited him in. Tidus  
  
was about to go in, and then looked at Yuna and smiling, pulled her in with him.  
  
"Anyway Zed, this is Yuna, she's a..." Tidus looked as if he was trying to find the right  
  
word, "a friend of mine. Anyway, she's...Er...Not from around here. Tomorrow she's gonna  
  
need some one to look after her, show her the ropes, know what I mean?"  
  
Zed smiled at Yuna, and just from his smile, Yuna could tell that Zed was quite a  
  
charmer, maybe even more so than Tidus was.  
  
"Nice to meet you," he said, shaking Yuna's hand.  
  
"So, will you help her out?" Tidus asked, and Zed smiled.  
  
"Of course, I'd be happy to," he said, eyeing Yuna.  
  
"Hey, but don't get any ideas, she's mine," Tidus said and Zed and he laughed. Yuna  
  
didn't know if she like the sound of their laughter, but she decided it didn't matter. She had no  
  
idea what was going on, anyway.  
  
"So, where're you from, Yuna?" Zed asked.  
  
"She's from District D-North. You know, the one that lost its team last month," Tidus  
  
answered for her, shooting her a look, as if to tell her not to object.  
  
"Man, sorry about what happened to your blitz team," Zed said, "You must be bummed."  
  
"Actually, she's always been an Abe fan. Her...Brother just happened to play for the  
  
Yurdles. That's all." Tidus said, and then, as if deciding to change the subject said, "So,  
  
tomorrow you can come over to my place before practice, and Yuna's gonna need a nice dress,  
  
you know, for the after-party-."  
  
"Definitely!" Zed interrupted, "You are so gonna kick the Duggles' tache!"  
  
Yuna wondered what a "tache" was, but then figured it was just some Zanarkand slang  
  
term or something.   
  
Tidus noticed her confused look, and said, "Uh, "tache" is a rather...nasty word for butt.",  
  
which then made him and Zed laugh again.  
  
"Anyway, Yuna's gonna need something nice, dressy, pricy...Yeah, get her the most  
  
expensive one, on me, and then you know, get her some "Abe Wear" for the game, and then meet  
  
me at the before-party. Then, I'll get two tickets for you both in the best seating, of course, and  
  
then go ahead and change for the after-party, and I'll meet you both back there. Sound good?"  
  
Zed rolled his eyes, although he was smiling, "So basically a shopping trip and then to the  
  
game, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Tidus said, and looked at Yuna, "Sound okay?"  
  
Yuna just nodded, although she still had no idea what was going on.  
  
"See ya tomorrow Zed!" Tidus said, and dragged Yuna outdoors, and toward his place.  
  
"What's going on?" Yuna finally managed.  
  
"Oh? Oh, yeah, sorry. I didn't want to leave you all alone tomorrow, so Zed and you'll  
  
hang out, okay? Like, you need some game clothes and a dress, 'cause the after-party is formal,  
  
okay?" Tidus said, smiling, "Zed and you will watch the game. He'll show you around and  
  
stuff."  
  
"Okay," Yuna finally said, and then asked, "How do you know Zed?"  
  
"Zed and me have known each other since we were six. We used to be neighbors and go  
  
to the same blitz camps and stuff. Then, we both played on the Abes together. Last year though,  
  
Zed had a pretty bad injury. It put him out for the rest of the season. And...Well, once you are  
  
out for an entire season, let's just say you're usually out for the rest of your life."  
  
"That's too bad," Yuna said, as Tidus led her into his place.  
  
"It is," Tidus said, "And I know Zed has a hard time with it, but hey, he's a good sport.   
  
Not only that, but you should see the chicks he gets out of sympathy!"  
  
"Oh," Yuna said, nodding, as Tidus dropped her hand and ran back over to the food.  
  
Tidus yawned, and Yuna suddenly felt wide awake. She wanted to see what else  
  
Zanarkand had to offer. She wanted to go to a game, or a party, or something, but Tidus was  
  
looking quite beat.  
  
"G'night," he said, yawning as he did so, "Oh, and if the couch gets old, there's always  
  
room with me!" He raised his eyebrows and Yuna, and then went toward his room.  
  
"Hey, wait," Yuna said, "I thought Zanarkand never sleeps!"  
  
"It doesn't," Tidus said, looking at Yuna with a bored expression on his face, "But I do."  
  
Then, he continued on toward his bedroom, and Yuna could just picture him lying there,  
  
waiting for her. He probably had never been turned down before.  
  
Yuna sat down on the couch deciding that she could at least try to sleep, even if she  
  
wasn't the least bit tired. She was so excited for the next day, even if it would be spent mainly  
  
away from Tidus. She couldn't wait to watch him play, in the stadium all lit up at night...  
  
She hadn't even meant to, but as she lay back, thinking about the next day's plans, she  
  
fell into a deep and rather peaceful slumber. 


	8. Lea's Wrath

I just wanted to thank all of my reviewers! I'm really glad you all like my story, and here comes

chapter 7!

Chapter 7: Lea's Wrath  
  
"Oh Yuna, it's time to wake up!" a voice said sweetly, and its owner gave her a little  
  
shake. Yuna was awake suddenly, but decided not to open her eyes. After all, it was far too  
  
early in the morning...  
  
Yuna felt as if she might drift off again, when she realized she had no idea who it was  
  
that had awaken her. It wasn't Tidus, nor was it Zed. The voice belonged to a female.  
  
"Huh?" Yuna said, bolting straight up and looking into the almost aqua eyes of Lea, who  
  
was standing over her with a smile on her face. Not her usual sweet smile either, but one of  
  
those "I know all" smiles.  
  
"Hm, he has you sleeping on the couch, does he?" Lea asked with a snort, "I should've  
  
known. Some fan would never be good enough for him. Or did you start in the bed..."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Yuna interrupted, being that she had forgotten all about  
  
Lea and her little talk the day before, "And what are you doing here?"  
  
"Zeddy called me," Lea said, crossing her arms, "He said he wanted me to help you with  
  
the shopping. Besides, Zeddy needed to help with some things in the arena."  
  
"But..." Yuna looked away from Lea's smirking stare, wondering why Zed had sent her.   
  
Surely he knew Tidus hated Lea?  
  
"Men," Lea was now saying, "All you have to do is send them one sweet smile, and the  
  
next thing you know, they're wrapped around your finger." Her eyes rolled, and she smiled a  
  
not-so-sweet smile.  
  
"Or," Lea continued, smiling that same not-so-sweet smile still, "The men can give you  
  
one sweet smile, and the next thing you know, you're wrapped around his finger. Which one was  
  
it Yuna?"  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Yuna said, rolling her eyes, trying to fix her  
  
out-of-place hair. And to think she had thought Lea seemed okay, and that Tidus had just  
  
misjudged her. Maybe it was the fact that Yuna hated judgements of people. She was a fond  
  
believer that a person should be able to be known before judged. Still, she couldn't help but have  
  
some mean judgements thrown toward Lea. Yuna sighed and walked to the other side of the  
  
room where there was a mirror. Lea's eyes followed Yuna the entire way, and she frowned.  
  
"You're not the only one who's ever been kissed by him, you know," Lea said, her hands  
  
on her hips and her eyes slitted toward Yuna.  
  
"I'm aware of that," Yuna said, eyeing Lea through the mirror, wondering what Zed had  
  
been thinking to send in Lea. Yuna found herself wondering if Tidus knew that Lea were here.   
  
Probably not, Yuna decided.  
  
Lea looked angry, and Yuna wondered what it was that she was angry at. Finally, Lea  
  
gave a loud huffing noise and walked up to Yuna.  
  
"Look, Tidus is mine," Lea said, her eyes flaming at Yuna, "So you might as well just  
  
leave while you have the chance.   
  
Yuna wanted to laugh. "What even gives you that idea?" Yuna asked Lea, smiling to  
  
hold back her laughter, "Tidus can't stand you."  
  
"Oh yeah," Lea said, "Then why will he sleep with me but not with you?"  
  
"She's bluffing," Yuna told herself. "If anyone's the obsessed fan, it's Lea. Not me."  
  
"He hasn't had the chance to," Yuna told Lea surely, smiling, because she knew quite  
  
well that it wasn't Tidus who wouldn't sleep with her, but her that wouldn't sleep with him, "I'm  
  
not some slut Lea, unlike you."  
  
Lea looked like she was going to slap Yuna, her eyes were now nothing but slits.   
  
However, she was doing a very good job at keeping her cool, even though Yuna could see she  
  
was rather taken aback.  
  
After a moment of staring angrily at Yuna, Lea just smiled.   
  
"Do you know how badly Tidus wants this game?" Lea asked, her sweet voice returning.  
  
"As bad as he wants any game," Yuna just said, rolling her eyes as she did so.  
  
Lea snorted, "Shows how much you know him. Do even know what tournament this is?"  
  
Yuna shook her head, feeling somewhat defeated.  
  
"It's the Willington Memorial Tournament, the only tournament the Abes have never  
  
won. And this is Tidus' big chance to win it for 'em."  
  
"Yeah, so he'll win it," Yuna said, looking crossly at Lea.  
  
"Not if I have anything to do with it?" Lea said, and she returned Yuna's cross glare.  
  
"What could you do?" Yuna asked, allowing her eyes to roll once more.  
  
"Do you have any idea who my father is?" Lea asked, rolling her eyes, "He's the head ref  
  
of the tournament. So, I just talk to him, and he'll make sure the Abes don't win. Got it?"  
  
Yuna rolled her eyes again. As if Lea was really telling the truth anyway.  
  
Lea gave Yuna one more warning glare and then huffed out the door, leaving Yuna to  
  
herself.  
  
"Whatever," Yuna said, rolling her eyes yet again, "I can always just take care of myself."  
  
She decided haughtily that she'd go shopping herself, for the clothes that Tidus had been  
  
talking about. She wasn't about to let Lea get her down.  
  
She was on her way out the door when she saw Zed coming over to her.  
  
"Hey, where's Lea going?" he asked as he entered the house, stopping Yuna from exiting.  
  
Yuna crossed her arms, feeling somewhat angry at Zed for sending Lea. If Tidus had  
  
wanted her, he would have sent her, not Zed.  
  
"What's wrong?" Zed asked, after seeing the look on Yuna's face, "You and Lea don't  
  
get along? Hm...You must be the only girl in the whole city that doesn't like Lea. Anyway,  
  
seeing that you two probably didn't get much shopping done, I suppose I'll have to go. You  
  
ready?"  
  
Yuna decided that for now she was just going to have to forgive Zed, but she wondered  
  
how she was going to pay for the clothes Tidus wanted her to get. She expressed these feelings  
  
with Zed, but he only laughed.  
  
"Don't worry, Tidus'll take care of everything."  
  
Yuna smiled at Zed's comment, not knowing if it was a relieved smile or just a smile  
  
because she didn't know what else to say. She realized then that Lea's words were still bothering  
  
her. After all, what if what Lea had said was true?  
  
"Hey Zed?" Yuna asked shyly as Zed made his way out the door.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, as Yuna followed behind him. The day was warm and sunny, and  
  
people were everywhere in the streets, yelling, "Let's go Abes!" or something to cheer their team  
  
on.  
  
"Is this game real important to him? Like, does he really want to win it?" Yuna asked,  
  
catching up to Zed and walking alongside of him.  
  
"You bet it does," Zed said, smiling, "It'll be the first time the Abes have ever won. Not  
  
only that, but this is the only tournament Tidus' old man didn't win."  
  
Yuna stopped. "It is?" she asked, then, catching up with Zed again. Somehow her heart  
  
suddenly felt extremely heavy.  
  
"Yeah, this game means more than anything in the world to Tidus," Zed continued, "He's  
  
been practicing since he was like eleven or twelve just to win this cup. Wants to show his old  
  
man up, I guess."  
  
"It must really mean a lot to him," Yuna said, sounding sad. What if Lea really did cause  
  
Tidus to lose? "How long has he tried to win this cup?"  
  
"Well, since he's been on the Abes," Zed said, "But like I said, he's wanted it for as long  
  
as I can remember. Last year, the Abes were in the final round, but Tidus got pretty beat up out  
  
there. I'm afraid the team's not much without 'im. But this year, things are really looking up."  
  
"Yeah, unless Lea ruins things," Yuna thought mournfully, "Why did I have to come?"  
  
"Could...I mean, Lea's dad is the head ref, right?" Yuna asked, praying that Zed would  
  
say that he wasn't.  
  
"Yeah. Good thing, too. He's the fairest they've got. It's surprising he hasn't let Lea  
  
talk him into doin' things though. Whatever that girl wants, she seems to get. Good thing Lea  
  
and Tidus are so close, know what I mean?" Zed said, smiling at Yuna.  
  
"But they aren't close," Yuna argued, "Or, at least it doesn't seem that way..."  
  
"Oh, don't worry, they..." Zed suddenly trailed and looked down at Yuna.  
  
"Say," he asked, "You and Tidus are...A couple, right?" He looked somewhat alarmed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Yuna said, nodding, wondering what the alarmed look was for.  
  
"Great," Zed sighed, "Every year, Tidus and Lea have been the big couple. You don't  
  
think she'd tell her dad to..." Zed seemed to clear the thought out of his head, "Naw, never mind.   
  
So, anyway, where to first?"  
  
"Uh, you know how earlier I said I didn't like Lea?" Yuna asked Zed, making her voice  
  
sweet like Lea always did, "Well, I was just joking. Lea and me are really good friends. Why  
  
don't you take me to her place? I know you really don't want to shop. Then, I'll see you at  
  
Tidus' before the game. Oh, and...Don't tell Tidus we were together because we're both  
  
planning a surprise for him."  
  
"Well, okay," Zed said, smiling, as if happy to get off the hook and not have to go  
  
shopping, "Here's some cash that Tidus told me to give to you," he dropped some foreign coins  
  
into Yuna's hand and said, "Okay, let's head over to Lea's!"  
  
Yuna followed him as they went away from the shoreline and up a hill to where there  
  
were humongous houses. And here Yuna had found Tidus' to be rather large.  
  
"You know which one is her's, right?" Zed asked, stopping at a fork in the brick road that  
  
led to the large houses.  
  
Yuna felt weird, and also realized that she wasn't so sure if she wanted to go to Lea's  
  
house without Zed or Tidus around.   
  
"I can handle myself," Yuna just told herself, setting her chin straight ahead firmly, "I'll  
  
be just fine."  
  
"You seem lost," Zed said, and Yuna turned around, "Her house is that yellow-brick one  
  
right there. Well, meet me back at Tidus' at around two in the afternoon, okay?"  
  
"Sounds good," Yuna said, wondering if she'd have time to both talk with Lea and shop.   
  
She decided she'd just have to make time, and with her mind set, she found herself marching  
  
toward the huge yellow-bricked mansion.  
  
"Okay! See you then!" Zed said, running back down the hill, "Happy shopping!"  
  
Yuna took a deep breath, and swiftly made her way toward the yellow-bricked house,  
  
praying that there would be someway to stop Lea from going on with her terribly deed.   
  
She walked up the brick steps carefully, and tried to prepare what it was she was going to  
  
say to Lea.  
  
The crystal door-knocker sat by the door-handle, glistening in the sunlight. Yuna had  
  
never seen such an elaborate door-knocker, nor had she seen such an elaborate house. Flowers  
  
were everywhere, in different arrangements, and there were people outside watering them and  
  
such, who Yuna supposed weren't any of Lea's family members, but more like servants hired by  
  
Lea's family.  
  
An elderly man opened the door, and at first Yuna assumed it was Lea's father, but then  
  
realized he was far too old. Did she even have the right house? She finally realized it was more  
  
than likely another servant, as the man said, "Is there something I can do for you, Miss?"  
  
"Uh, yes, is Lea home?" Yuna asked, watching the man's wrinkled face to see if there  
  
were any signs of there not being a Lea that lived there.  
  
"Yes, just one second," the man said and turned into the house, "Miss Lea! There is a  
  
young lady here to see you!"  
  
"Send her up to my floor," Lea's snotty voice could be heard ordering the old man  
  
around.  
  
"Yes, of course," the man said, more to himself than to anyone else, "Come with me  
  
Miss." He led Yuna up the most elaborate staircase she had ever seen, passing a crystal  
  
chandelier that hung from the ceiling.  
  
The staircase's railing had beautiful crystals engraved in it, and the entire outside of it  
  
was gold. The carpet ran up the golden staircase, and was a wonderful red color that matched the  
  
color of the roses that were on the walls.  
  
The elderly man led Yuna through a gorgeous lit hallway to the double doors at the very  
  
end and knocked.  
  
Lea's face appeared as she opened the doors, and she smiled seeing that it was Yuna. She  
  
had obviously been expecting her.  
  
"Come on in Yuna!" Lea greeted her, making a motion with her hand for the old man to  
  
leave, "I was expecting you." Lea closed the double doors smiling.  
  
Yuna looked around at the large spacious room. There was a staircase in the corner that  
  
looked just a grand as the one Yuna had recently walked up. The room itself held a large table  
  
that was all glass, as well as glass chairs. Bouquets of flowers were everywhere, and there was  
  
even a fountain on the wall. If Yuna hadn't known any better, she would have assumed they  
  
were outdoors.   
  
On the very south walls, lovely glass doors led to a gorgeous balcony that was toned with  
  
stones.  
  
"Wow," Yuna said, looking around, "I didn't know referees made that much money."  
  
Lea snorted. "Well Yuna, what have you come for?"  
  
"You...You wouldn't really let Tidus lose this game, would you?" Yuna asked, and was  
  
yelling at herself for making it so obvious that she was worried about the matter. She should  
  
have simply mentioned it casually.  
  
"It depends..." Lea said, watching Yuna pace with interest, as she sat delicately in one of  
  
the glass chairs, "Whatever I say, Daddy does."  
  
"Listen Lea," Yuna said, "This game means more to Tidus than you could imagine.   
  
And...For all I know, this could be his last chance at winning it. You can't mess it up because of  
  
me."  
  
Lea looked extremely pleased with herself.  
  
"I can't?" she said, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout, "Well, I suppose if Yuna says I  
  
can't..."  
  
"Cut the sarcasm, Lea, this is serious!" Yuna said, trying so hard not to seem as if she was  
  
begging, but just couldn't help it.  
  
"Look, I won't do anything," Lea said, and Yuna tried not to be too relieved, because she  
  
knew Lea's terms weren't up.  
  
"What do you want me to do?" Yuna asked hopelessly.  
  
"Dump Tidus," Lea said matter-of-factly.  
  
"What?" Yuna cried, "I can't do that! I love..." Yuna's voice trailed as her eyes looked  
  
at the tiled floor beneath her feet. She loved Tidus. Exactly. He may not exactly quite love her  
  
back yet, but right now the game meant everything to him.   
  
"Wait!" Yuna thought, "I'll just explain to Tidus! He'll understand! He hates Lea! He'll  
  
definitely understand!"   
  
"Oh, and if you're thinking of telling Tidus," Lea said, and Yuna wondered terribly if she  
  
could read minds, "Don't even think of it. 'Cause not only do I want you to dump him, but I  
  
want him back. I want to attend the after-game party with him, understand?"  
  
"What if Tidus doesn't want to go with you?" Yuna asked, deciding that maybe she could  
  
pretend to dump him, only to make up with him after the game. "Wait a minute!" Yuna said, "If  
  
I dump Tidus, won't that be on his mind when he plays Blitzball?"  
  
"You can dump him after the game for all I care," Lea said, smiling, as if she knew she'd  
  
outsmarted Yuna.  
  
However, Yuna didn't feel outsmarted yet. A small smile appeared on Yuna's face, but  
  
disappeared quickly. Dump him after the game...After the game, what did it matter to Yuna  
  
anymore? As long as Tidus won, what could Lea possibly do to Tidus and her? Nothing.  
  
"Alright, deal," Yuna said quickly, and hoped she didn't sound too eager, "I'll dump  
  
Tidus as soon as the game is over, and you can go to the after party with him." Yuna crossed her  
  
fingers behind her back, something Rikku always did when making deals with Brother.  
  
She didn't realize that Lea also crossed her fingers behind her back.


	9. AbeWear and a Plan

Oh my goodness, I just LOVE all of you reviewers! Thank you so much for taking the time to  
  
read and review my story! Right now I'm kind of going through a slight writer's-block, but no  
  
worries, I should still be able to update!   
  
Chapter 8: Abe-Wear and a Plan  
  
Yuna exited Lea's house, feeling somewhat light-hearted, although she was still  
  
somewhat nervous. If Tidus didn't win...Yuna just didn't want to think about it. First of all, she  
  
was hoping terribly that there was some way for Tidus and her to return to Spira, and if that was  
  
the case, this would be the last chance Tidus would have to show up his old man, even though  
  
Yuna knew that if he could remember everything that had happened in Spira that it wouldn't  
  
matter anymore. At least, she hoped it wouldn't.  
  
Yuna walked back toward Tidus' place, deciding to hit some of the shops that were lined  
  
up on the road. She had no idea what to look for, and decided just to buy a nice formal dress and  
  
then something that had the Abes emblem on it or something.  
  
As she entered a shop and looked at the strange outfits that were available, she realized  
  
she had no idea how to pay with the foreign coins. She hoped they were something like gil, and  
  
browsed though the many outfits they had.  
  
"Can I help you?" a cheerful girl said, coming up to Yuna.  
  
"Actually, yes," Yuna said, "I need something to wear to the game tonight."  
  
"You got tickets?" the girl practically squealed, "Lucky you! Well, we'll make you look  
  
the most Abe-ish there! Now, let's see..."  
  
The girl looked through the racks before finally pulling something out, smiling as she did  
  
so.   
  
"Ooh, this will look awesome on you!" the girl said, holding up a blue denim casual  
  
dress. It had one strap, and had a buckle around the waist. The skirt part of it had yellow stripes  
  
down it, and Yuna guessed it was supposed to look kind of like the Abe's uniform.  
  
Yuna smiled and took it from the bubbly girl, deciding that it would look cute. Not only  
  
that, but it would make her match Tidus. Yuna laughed to herself at the thought, and told the girl  
  
that she would buy it. She then decided to ask the girl about a dress also.  
  
"No way, you're even going to the after-party?" the girl squealed, and it was then that  
  
Yuna realized just how big of a deal Blitzball was in Zanarkand. Sure, it was nice in Spira, and  
  
helped people back when Sin was around, but here in Zanarkand, it was literally a way of life.  
  
The girl came running back with a blue dress that matched the color of Yuna's blue eye,  
  
and held it up to Yuna.  
  
The neck on the dress was extremely low, and it looked extremely tight, but Yuna  
  
realized she didn't have a lot of time left. She told the girl that she would take those two outfits,  
  
and asked for a pair of high-heeled shoes for the dress.  
  
The girl rang her up, and Yuna had to try to figure out how to use the money.   
  
"That'll be 963 Z's," the girl said, reaching her hand out for the money.  
  
"Uh, here you go," Yuna said, handing her how much coins it would have been in gil.  
  
"Okay..." the girl said, "But you still need 221 Z's."  
  
"Oh, here," Yuna said, giving her more coins.  
  
"Okay, here's your change," the girl said, handing Yuna a few coins back, "Have fun at  
  
the game!"  
  
"Thanks, I will!" Yuna said, walking out, swinging her bags as she did so, proud of  
  
herself for figuring out how to pay with Z's.  
  
She glanced at a giant clock on one of the buildings, realizing that she only had a few  
  
minutes left until it was two.  
  
Banging her bags on her knees, she walked swiftly toward Tidus' house, feeling quite  
  
pleased with herself that she had found her way around Tidus' district already.  
  
She walked up to Tidus' house, and was about to knock when she saw the door was  
  
already open, and she could hear Zed and Tidus laughing in the next room.   
  
She entered casually, and noticed that Tidus and Zed were in the kitchen, and obviously  
  
hadn't heard her walk in.  
  
"Dang she's hot," Zed was saying, and Tidus was nodding his agreement, "How'd you  
  
meet her?"  
  
Yuna stopped, wondering if they were talking about her, or someone else.  
  
"Long story," Tidus said, "But the best thing of all is she isn't some total slime like most  
  
chicks. Know what I mean?"  
  
Yuna smiled. They had to be talking about her.  
  
"Still, how you came upon her is beyond me," Zed said, and Tidus just smiled.  
  
"Wanna know the best thing?" Tidus asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"What's that?" Zed asked, and Yuna knew he wasn't the only one interested in knowing.  
  
"She's a total nut!" Tidus laughed.  
  
A nut? Had Yuna heard him right?  
  
"Oh yeah?" Zed asked, "Like how?"  
  
"She says she's not from Zanarkand, and told me some bogus story about me and her.   
  
Let's just say it's some unbelievable story, and she thinks I believe it."  
  
Zed laughed, "I don't know man, how do you know she isn't just playin' you?"  
  
It was Tidus' turn to laugh, as he said, "Believe me, man, the only one doin' the playing  
  
is me."  
  
Yuna didn't want to hear anymore. How could this be happening? Why was this  
  
happening? Was she really lost in some dream? Surely this wasn't the Tidus she knew...   
  
Confusion like none other swept over Yuna, as she staggered backwards, not knowing  
  
what to do. She wanted to go back to Spira. She wanted to never see Tidus again. She never  
  
wanted to hear his voice...  
  
"Yuna?" Tidus' voice. Yuna's inside screamed. She vaguely heard the door shut, and  
  
guessed that Zed must have left.  
  
"There you are!" it was Tidus again, and Yuna realized that he was standing in the  
  
doorway, blocking her exit.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked soothingly, and again Yuna's inside screamed.  
  
"I hate you...I hate you...I hate you..." repeated itself over and over in Yuna's mind.  
  
Tidus was looking at her with a confused look on his face, and Yuna watched as his face  
  
suddenly lit with realization.  
  
"You heard what I said, didn't you?" he finally asked, although it sounded more like a  
  
statement.  
  
Yuna didn't know what to do or say. She was so torn at what she had heard him telling  
  
Zed that she couldn't even think straight. She wanted to cry, but wasn't about to do it with Tidus  
  
standing right there.  
  
"I want to leave," Yuna said, and she dropped the bags of clothing that were still clenched  
  
in her grasp, "I want to go home. I don't want to see you ever again!"  
  
She was about to turn and go out the back entrance, but Tidus grabbed her arm.  
  
"Hey, wait! Let me explain myself!" Tidus said, but Yuna just tugged her arm out of his  
  
grasp.  
  
She looked at him with tears in her eyes and ran toward the back door, aware that Tidus  
  
was following her.  
  
He grabbed her arm again and this time held on tightly. He looked angry, and Yuna  
  
found herself quite frightened.  
  
"If he's only playing me," thoughts raced through her head, "Then why doesn't he just let  
  
me go?"   
  
"Look Yuna," Tidus said, his cold blue eyes staring at her, "You have to just hear me out,  
  
okay? The things I told Zed weren't true. But I have a reputation to look after, got it? If Zed  
  
thought I was going soft for some crazed fan, and liked her for more than the fact that she was  
  
hot, it would ruin my rep. Got it?"  
  
Yuna tugged her arm angrily also, trying to get out of Tidus' grasp. To her surprise, he  
  
let go of her, and crossed his arms.  
  
"Go ahead, leave," he said, "I just didn't want you to think that it's true that I was playing  
  
you. I just wanted you to know that I only told Zed those things to help my rep. Right now, I  
  
can't worry about you, 'cause I have twenty minutes before the big party. And right now, the  
  
number one thing on my mind is Blitzball. So go ahead, leave, I don't care." He turned around  
  
and went into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.  
  
Yuna didn't know what to do. Could she really stay angry at him? Sure, he could have  
  
been a little nicer about it, but it was true that right now Blitzball was the only thing on his mind.   
  
Thinking of the Blitzball game made Yuna remember Lea's words. If Yuna left now, at least  
  
Tidus would be sure to win the game.  
  
Taking a breath, Yuna walked up to Tidus' room and knocked on the door.  
  
"What is it?" he asked sharply from behind it.  
  
"Uh Tidus," Yuna said, "There's something I think you should know."  
  
"What is it?" he repeated himself.  
  
"It's about something Lea told me."  
  
The door opened, and Tidus looked down at her. "Great, what 'id she say?" he asked,  
  
and to Yuna's surprise looked somewhat worried.  
  
Yuna swallowed hard, wondering if Tidus really needed this before the big game. Still,  
  
she decided it would be best to tell him now, while they were still not at best terms.  
  
"Lea told me that unless I dumped you, her dad would make sure you lost the game."  
  
"That wench!" Tidus yelled, "I knew she'd do something like that! Okay, no problem,  
  
her dad's like totally fair. Maybe..."  
  
Great, now Yuna had done it. She really had made Tidus worried. What if he couldn't  
  
concentrate on the game now?  
  
"I have a plan, though," Yuna said, deciding that it would go against everything she  
  
hated, but she had to go for it, anyway. For Tidus' sake.  
  
"What's that?" Tidus asked, looking at the clock anxiously.  
  
"We need to pretend to break up," Yuna explained quickly, "We could do it at the end of  
  
the before party. Then, I'll just pretend like Zed and me are a couple. Surely you could talk him  
  
into doing that?"  
  
"Yeah, no problem," Tidus said, "But then what?"  
  
"Then, you'd have to invite...invite Lea to the after-party." Yuna bit her lip. She had so  
  
been wanting to go to the formal, gorgeous after-party, but not exactly with Zed as her date.  
  
"When would I have to invite her?" Tidus asked, looking angry.  
  
This was when it suddenly hit Yuna. She knew exactly how to go through the game  
  
without having the Abes lose on purpose.  
  
"Invite her before the game!" Yuna said happily, "But then dump her as soon as we get to  
  
the after-party, and then you and I can magically return together! How does that sound?"  
  
Tidus seemed to think it over, and something in his eyes told Yuna that for some reason,  
  
he wasn't liking the whole idea too much, but he suddenly nodded.  
  
"Okay!" he said, shaking Yuna's hand, "I'll talk to Zed about it at the before-party. Then,  
  
we'll go with your plan. It'll finally be my chance to get back at Lea!"  
  
"What did Lea do to you?" Yuna asked quickly, wondering why Tidus had wanted a  
  
chance to get back at her.  
  
"Oh, nothing really," Tidus just said with a smile, and then said, "Hey, go change clothes,  
  
we have to leave soon!"  
  
"Okay," Yuna said, slowly, and went over to where she had dropped her clothes, and took  
  
them carefully out of the bag. She then went and changed into the "Abe wear" and actually  
  
rather liked it.  
  
She smiled to herself the entire time, realizing that no matter what Lea threw at her, she  
  
could always outsmart her.   
  
She didn't realize that she was the only one on her side. 


	10. Just One Kiss

Chapter 9: Just One Kiss  
  
"What do you think?" Tidus asked, throwing his arms up, smiling.  
  
What did she think? People were everywhere, on the streets, in buildings, in restaurants,  
  
everywhere! All of them squealing or whispering excitedly as Tidus walked past.  
  
She knew what was on her mind at the moment, however. Tidus enjoyed the attention he  
  
was receiving. How would he ever want to go back to Spira with her? She decided not to think  
  
like this, because she knew that if he could only remember...  
  
Why didn't he remember? Yuna bit her lip, not meaning to have gone into such a deep  
  
thought. Not only that, but how was she even going to get back to Spira? How could she even  
  
be worried about Tidus not wanting to go back, when she herself didn't even know how to get  
  
back?  
  
"Just a little longer," she assured herself, "Tidus has to remember...He just has to! Then,  
  
together we'll find a way back to Spira." She nodded, not noticing that Tidus had walked quite a  
  
ways ahead of her. He hadn't even noticed that she had fallen behind.  
  
Walking somewhat faster, to catch up with him, Yuna still couldn't help but stay in a  
  
deep thought. How many days had she been in Zanarkand? Three? Two and a half?   
  
Sighing, Yuna realized that she hadn't even been in Zanarkand that long. Still, she had a  
  
part of her that wanted dreadfully to return to Spira. Perhaps it was hard being the only one who  
  
even knew Spira existed.  
  
Wait. Yuna stopped without even meaning to, as her thoughts swarmed around her. She  
  
wasn't in the real Zanarkand. She was in Tidus' Zanarkand. She was in a place where Spira  
  
didn't exist. Did she still exist?   
  
"No," she told herself, "That's not it. Tidus must have known when he disappeared the  
  
second time that he wouldn't remember me. I could tell by looking at his face that something  
  
else was bothering him. There just has to be a way to make him remember."  
  
"There is."  
  
Suddenly everything seemed to stop. In fact, everything did stop. Suddenly, Yuna was  
  
the only one moving.   
  
"What's going on?" she asked out loud, and then turned around, to see a little boy whose  
  
hooded shirt covered his face. She knew instantly who it was. It was the Fayth. Smiling, being  
  
that it had been a while since there was something familiar, she said, "So you do have something  
  
to do with this, right?"  
  
The fayth nodded. "Of course. This is my creation, after all."  
  
Yuna looked at the ground. "Yeah but...it doesn't exist."  
  
"It does right now," the fayth said, "Tidus doesn't remember anything that happened  
  
while in Spira. Of course, you've noticed that by now."  
  
"Will he ever remember?" Yuna asked, and didn't realize how helpless her voice truly  
  
sounded.  
  
The fayth nodded. "After a kiss filled with love, he will remember."  
  
Yuna smiled. So there really was a way! She was about to ask more, like how she would  
  
return to Spira, and if Tidus would return with her, but everything started back up, and the fayth  
  
disappeared.  
  
"Hey, you coming or what?" Tidus had finally realized she was lagging behind, and  
  
smiled at her, "What's up? You look like you're pretty into something!"  
  
"Oh, it's nothing," Yuna said, taking one last glance at the area where the fayth had stood,  
  
and then caught up to Tidus.  
  
She smiled her own smile in return, but then thought of something. Tidus had kissed her  
  
the night before, at the party. Surely that kiss had meant something? Why hadn't he  
  
remembered after that kiss? Not only that, but how did she even go about asking him about why  
  
the kiss didn't work...?  
  
"You okay?" Tidus asked, and was giving her a strange look.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Yuna lied. Truthfully, she suddenly wasn't feeling too into the day.   
  
Everything and everyone around her buzzed with excitement. Soon, they reached the stadium,  
  
and Yuna asked Tidus if the before-party was being held at the stadium.  
  
"Uh-huh, it is," Tidus said, "And then Zed and you will go to your seats. I get you the  
  
best in the stadium!"  
  
Yuna smiled, deciding that for now, she was just going to enjoy herself, and not worry  
  
about anything else.  
  
The party itself was actually quite stiff, being that members of both teams were there.   
  
Each member of the teams would shake hands with each other, and then with the referees and the  
  
coaches, and as they did this, Yuna stood with Zed, who had a strange look of longing in his  
  
eyes.  
  
"You wish you were there, doing that right now, don't you?" Yuna asked, not looking  
  
Zed in the eyes, as she was too busy watching Tidus shake hands with the other team's star  
  
player, raising his eyebrows ominously at the player as he did so.   
  
Zed shoved his hands in his pockets, and said, "Yeah, I do."  
  
"What happened?" Yuna couldn't help but ask.  
  
"I'd rather not talk about it," Zed said, looking away from the many players.  
  
Yuna felt somewhat bad for asking, but figured she'd just get it from Tidus later. After  
  
the game.  
  
She didn't know why, but she could tell that Zed and her didn't get along, and probably  
  
never would. She just didn't like something about him.  
  
"So," she said, trying to make a conversation anyway, being that Tidus expected Zed and  
  
her to get along, "Do you think the Abes will win?"  
  
"They'd better," Zed said, "It's not like they haven't beat this team before."  
  
"This isn't much of a party," Yuna said then, looking around at all of the stiff looking  
  
people. She saw a man who was becoming somewhat grey and whose hair was thinning, who  
  
was talking with Lea.  
  
"Great," Yuna thought to herself, "That must be Lea's father. I wonder what they're  
  
talking about?"  
  
Then, smiling to herself, Yuna excused herself from Zed and walked up to Lea, deciding  
  
that as long as she was there, Lea couldn't very well ask her father to make the Abes lose.  
  
"Hi Lea!" Yuna greeted the blonde girl, deciding a friendly approach would be the best  
  
one to do.  
  
"Oh, hi Yuna," Lea said, not exactly returning the friendliness, but not exactly sounding  
  
unhappy to see her, either.  
  
"Uh, and hello to you," Yuna said, reaching out her hand for Lea's father to shake, "I'm  
  
Yuna. I'm a friend of your daughter's."  
  
Lea's father smiled and shook her head, and Lea glared angrily at Yuna.  
  
"So," Yuna said, giving Lea a quick look of satisfaction, "Being that you're a ref, you  
  
don't really side with just one team, do you?"  
  
"Well, of course not," her father said, although he gave Lea a questioning look.  
  
"That's good," Yuna said, acting cheerful and clueless, "I was afraid that you might side  
  
with a team, you know, on accident, and then cause the other team to lose."  
  
Yuna smiled, but Lea glared, and then grabbed Yuna's arm.  
  
"Uh, excuse me Father," Lea said, still glaring at Yuna, "But Yuna here, and I, have  
  
to...Discuss something.  
  
"Goodbye Sir!" Yuna yelled to Lea's father as Lea dragged her to a corner of the stadium  
  
where there were very few people.  
  
"You little TACHE!" Lea screamed at Yuna, and Yuna had to recall that "tache" wasn't a  
  
very nice word in the Zanarkand language, "What do you think you're doing, anyway?"  
  
"I just wanted to make sure you hadn't said anything to your father," Yuna replied  
  
sweetly.  
  
"Look, I haven't said anything to my dad, but there's always half-time," Lea said,  
  
crossing her arms, glaring angrily at Yuna, "If Tidus isn't mine by half-time, the Abes can say  
  
"goodbye" to their victory, got it?"  
  
"No worries there," Yuna said, crossing her arms and throwing on a disgusted look,  
  
"Because Tidus and me aren't even a couple any more. It's...Uh...Zed and me now. I don't like  
  
dating Blitzball players."  
  
Lea looked at Yuna as if she couldn't believe her ears.  
  
"Then why did you..." Lea seemed confused, and Yuna could guess that while rather  
  
pretty and popular, Lea definitely wasn't too bright.  
  
"So I don't know why you're wasting your time," Yuna said, with a hidden sigh,  
  
"Because Tidus is as good as yours."  
  
Lea gave a satisfied smile, and said, "He was too good for you anyway," and then gave  
  
her hair a flip, and marched off, still smiling to herself.  
  
Yuna couldn't help but feel defeated, even though for now she had won. She watched  
  
Lea march up to Tidus, flirting with him. Tidus looked confused at first, and looked at Yuna,  
  
and then back at Lea. Then, with an eye roll that Lea didn't see, Yuna knew that Tidus was  
  
asking her to the after-party. Looking extremely pleased, Lea kissed Tidus on the cheek, and ran  
  
off to who-knew-where.  
  
"So, technically I'm dumped for now," Tidus said, as Yuna walked up to him.  
  
"Yeah, but don't worry about it," Yuna said, and threw on a fake smile, "Just go out there  
  
and win!"  
  
"No worries there!" Tidus said, and then smiled at Yuna and walked out of the room,  
  
toward the locker rooms. The so called "before-party" was drawing to an end.  
  
"Wanna go find our seats?" Zed asked then, and Yuna nodded.  
  
Zed led her through crowds and crowds of people, all while Yuna was amazed at how  
  
large the stadium was. Not to mention how much machina there was in the stadium.   
  
"Here they are!" Zed said, taking a seat, "Pretty incredible, isn't it?"  
  
It was. The seats were definitely the best in the house, and the sphere pool could be seen  
  
clearly.  
  
Before long, the Blitzers all swam out, and the crowd went wild. They screamed and  
  
yelled and hooted, and whistled. They just went wild.  
  
Yuna felt herself tense, as if worried about what would happen in the game. Right off,  
  
the other team scored a goal. However, Yuna noticed Tidus just smiled.  
  
"Why's he smiling?" Yuna practically cried, "The other team just made a goal!"  
  
"He's smiling because of this," Zed said, with a smile on his own face.  
  
Yuna watched to see what it was, only to see Tidus make a goal.  
  
"See, he knew he was going to make one," Zed explained, "That's why he was smiling."  
  
The game dragged on without too much action, and half-time came around, and the score  
  
was still tied one to one.  
  
"Great game, isn't it?" Zed asked, as people returned to their seats from the concessions.  
  
Yuna was too nervous to answer. What if Lea knew what was going on? What if she  
  
would make Tidus lose the game? What if without Lea, Tidus still lost the game?  
  
There was nothing to worry about, however, as the Abes again made another goal,  
  
making the score two to one.  
  
Before long, there was little time left in the game, and the Abes fans were growing very  
  
impatient, when the other team made a goal, tying up the game.  
  
Now Zed began to look nervous, as did Yuna.   
  
"Wow, I never expected it to be this close," Zed said nervously, "And the Abes are  
  
lookin' a little tired."  
  
They were. Even Tidus looked as if he couldn't take much more. There was only about a  
  
minute left in the game, with the score being two to two.  
  
"Come on Tidus," Yuna thought, "You can do it!"  
  
Soon the game was down to seconds, with both teams fighting desperately to win.   
  
"What happens if the Abes lose?" Yuna asked, now feeling incredibly nervous.  
  
"I don't know," Zed admitted, not taking his eyes off of the game, "No one even thought  
  
it'd be this close."  
  
Soon it was down to ten seconds, and all of the fans were too nervous to even count them  
  
down. Yuna saw Tidus' eyes go up to the scoreboard, as to check the time, and Yuna could tell  
  
that he was feeling the heat. She could tell by the look in his eye that he didn't want to go into  
  
over-time.  
  
"They need this now," Zed said, looking almost frightened, "They won't last through  
  
over-time. The other team has way more energy now."  
  
Suddenly, the crowd began to count down.  
  
"Three...Two...On–" Tidus released a shot, halfway to the goal. The buzzer calling the  
  
end of the game went off, but since Tidus had kicked it before the buzzer, it was still good.  
  
Everyone held their breath as the ball went soaring toward the goal. Without even  
  
meaning to, Yuna closed her eyes, as if in prayer that it would go in.  
  
The next thing she heard were screams and shouts, although she couldn't tell if they were  
  
from the Abe fans or the other fans.   
  
"We did it Yuna!" Zed screamed however, and she could feel him jumping up and down  
  
at her side, "We won!"  
  
Yuna forced her eyes open, and wanted to scream out of happiness. Lea hadn't gone  
  
through with her plan. They had won!  
  
The fans were going wild, throwing things, and the Abes were all swimming around, and  
  
Yuna was afraid they were going to drown poor Tidus.  
  
Everyone was hugging people, cheering, laughing. The Abes all went out, but Yuna  
  
couldn't help but notice that Tidus didn't look too happy.  
  
He was smiling, but it was only a little smile. He was still in the sphere pool, and then, he  
  
finally seemed to shake it off, and he swam out.  
  
"He doesn't seem too thrilled," Yuna expressed her thoughts out loud.  
  
"Yeah, I noticed," Zed said, and then said, "Wanna go congratulate our big star?"  
  
"That sounds great!" Yuna said, and decided that as soon as Zed was gone, and Lea was  
  
out of the way, there would be a few things Yuna needed to clear up with Tidus. However, Yuna  
  
knew that the clearing up would have to wait until the two of them were alone.  
  
Zed flashed a badge, and led Yuna down some stairs. The place was packed with  
  
cheering fans, all trying to get into the locker room area, and Yuna figured that Zed had a pass,  
  
being that he used to be with the Abes.  
  
"Wait here just one second," Zed said to Yuna, and she nodded and sat down on a bench,  
  
as Zed disappeared through a door.  
  
Yuna was sitting there, wondering how long she would be sitting there, when Lea of all  
  
people, came around the corner, followed by a group of girls.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Lea asked snottily. She wasn't even pretending to be sweet  
  
anymore.  
  
"Waiting for Zed," Yuna said, and was glad that she didn't have to tell a complete lie.  
  
"Oh yeah," Lea just said, "Are you happy the Abes won?"  
  
"Yes, I am," Yuna said, smiling, "The referees were quite fair, I must say."  
  
"Aren't they always?" Lea just said, adding an eye roll, "Well, I'm here to see my  
  
boyfriend. We're going to the after-party together."  
  
Yuna didn't know if now was the time to tell Lea that Tidus and she were back together  
  
or if she should wait. However, Zed answered her question, as he came out then.  
  
"Tidus wants to see you," he said, and looked around at all of the people around Yuna.  
  
"He wants to see me?" Lea said, with a fake surprised sound to her voice.  
  
"Actually, he wants to see Yuna," Zed answered, looking rather confused, "Anyway,  
  
come on Yuna."  
  
Yuna smiled, perhaps a little too evilly, and followed Zed into the room. Or at least,  
  
Yuna had expected it to be a room. It was a actually a long stretch that went all the way around  
  
the sphere pool.   
  
Players were here and there, and Zed nodded his hellos, and Yuna did the same, and they  
  
continued walking all around.  
  
"Where is he?" Yuna asked.  
  
"Way down here. He said he wants to ask you something."  
  
As they reached the very last stretch of the platform, Yuna saw Tidus sitting there, staring  
  
into the pool.  
  
"I'll see you two at the party," Zed said, and waved to some other players, catching up  
  
with them.  
  
"Okay," Yuna just said, and went over to Tidus, "You wanted to see me?"  
  
"Yeah!" Tidus said, and looked up at Yuna. He was soaking wet, and gave his head a  
  
shake, apologizing as he got some water on Yuna.  
  
"Anyway," he continued, "I was just wondering if Lea was out there waiting for me."  
  
"Yeah, she is," Yuna said.  
  
"Oh, okay..." Tidus said, eyeing Yuna, "So...We can sneak out the back door, and then  
  
get changed for the after-party quick, right?"  
  
"Right!" Yuna said, and then decided to at least ask Tidus one thing.   
  
"Hey Tidus, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Okay, when you won, you were happy, right. Because...This is the only tournament that  
  
Sir Jech–I mean, Jecht, didn't win, right?"  
  
"Did Zed tell you that?" Tidus asked, smiling.  
  
"Yeah, he did," Yuna admitted, "Anyway, how come...How come you didn't seem too  
  
happy?"  
  
Tidus looked embarrassed, and in thought, as if looking for some sort of excuse.  
  
"Fine," he finally said, "Wanna know the truth? All my life, I've dreamed of this  
  
moment. But you know what? It's not nearly as sweet as I'd always thought it would be. I  
  
mean, it's not like my old man's here so I can rub it in his face, know what I mean?"  
  
Yuna nodded. She guessed she understood.  
  
"That's all. I just...Always thought it'd be sweeter. Still, it is pretty amazing! Can you  
  
believe I made that shot?"  
  
Yuna laughed, and followed Tidus out of the secret exit. She had wanted to talk to him  
  
about other things, as they made their way back to his place quickly, but he was too busy telling  
  
her all about the game from his point of view.  
  
The two made it to his place, and Yuna quickly tidied herself up and put on her dress, and  
  
then was ready for the after-party.  
  
Tidus came out, in a tuxedo, making Yuna want to laugh, even though he looked nice.  
  
"Hey, it's not my fault this is a formal event!" Tidus laughed for her, and then smiled,  
  
reaching his arm for her to take, "You ready? We're gonna be swarmed by the paparazzi!"  
  
"The paparazzi?" Yuna asked, "What's that?"  
  
"Cameras. Reporters. That kind of thing. Don't they have those in your district?"  
  
"Yeah, we just don't call them by anything, that's all," Yuna explained.   
  
"By the way, they can be nasty, so just completely ignore them, and smile at the camera!"  
  
Tidus laughed, as if he had said something funny, and Yuna's hopes of talking to him were  
  
smashed as soon as they walked out the door.  
  
People were everywhere. Cameras were flashing in her face, and she looked up at Tidus,  
  
wondering what to do. He had a smile on his face, and Yuna followed him. And here she had  
  
wanted to be alone!  
  
The two made their way slowly toward the after-party, which was also at the stadium, but  
  
Tidus explained that it was in the party room. He explained while having cameras flashing him  
  
that first he would shake hands with everybody, and then the coach would say some words, and  
  
then he would answer some questions, and then the rest would be the same as a normal party.  
  
Yuna sighed, as they walked into the stadium, and Tidus excused himself from her, going  
  
back to shake hands and everything.  
  
"Oh Yuna!" Yuna heard a familiar sweet voice as soon as Tidus was out of sight, "Now  
  
you've really asked for it."   
  
Yuna didn't even need to turn around to know who's nasty, almost too sweet voice it was.   
  
It obviously belonged to Lea. 


	11. Why Don't You Remember?

Once again thank you to all of my reviewers! In answer to Songstress Yuna Diamond, I think I just may actually make a sequel! I even think I have a title and everything made up for it! Hmm, I just need a plot...Anyway, I'm kind of dragging this story out, so it's actually already much longer than I planned it to be. And I'm uploading this chapter a day earlier than I originally was going to, but hey, why not, right? Okay, just a reminder, I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2, or any characters involved, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, here's chapter ten! By the way, the next chapter is going to be more of a Tidus' view kind of chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Why Don't You Remember?!?  
  
"I've never been in a fight before, but there's a first time for everything, isn't there!" Lea  
  
said, and she was so angry that she was turning red, "How many times do I have to tell you?   
  
TIDUS IS MINE!"  
  
Yuna backed up, deciding that the last thing she was going to be afraid of was Lea.  
  
"He's not yours," Yuna just said, deciding that she wasn't going to be a smart-mouth.   
  
Not now.  
  
"He is too!" Lea squealed, "And I'll make sure it stays that way!"  
  
Lea's normally cool aqua eyes were suddenly burning, and Yuna decided that for the time  
  
being, it would be best to stay away from her. Maybe near Tidus or Zed.  
  
Where was Zed? Yuna gave a sweet smile to Lea, and pushed her way through the  
  
crowd, deciding to find Zed and stay away from Lea.  
  
"Get back here!" she heard Lea saying, and Yuna couldn't help but almost laugh at how  
  
childish Lea truly was.  
  
Zed was no where to be found, so Yuna spent her time concentrating on staying away  
  
from Lea, and soon the coach was saying his words, beaming at how proud he was of his team.   
  
Photographers snapped their cameras, and reporters and the sphere-cameras were everywhere.   
  
Soon the coach was done, saying, "Now's the time for a party!"  
  
Many of the other team members left, all of them obviously quite upset that they had lost  
  
the tournament. The Abes were greeted with a large trophy, which was given to Tidus, and then  
  
was given to the coach, who was beaming so much that Yuna figured he might faint.  
  
"Have any problems?" Yuna heard Tidus say as he greeted her, and the entire floor burst  
  
out in dance as a band began to play.  
  
"Not exactly..." Yuna said, deciding it best not to tell Tidus about Lea's childish threats.  
  
Now all Yuna wanted to do was clear up all of the questions she had going on in her  
  
head, but she decided that for now it would be best to wait. Tidus introduced her to many  
  
people, and she could tell he didn't feel like dancing.   
  
"I know, when what's his face tackled you, I was all like, "Yeah, I've got your back"!   
  
But then the stupid moron next to him tackled me! Oh, that was your brother, sorry, I meant, you  
  
know that..." it went on and on as Tidus and a million other people went on and on about the  
  
game. Yuna couldn't help but feel bored. She had already watched the game, and Tidus had  
  
already told her all about it on the way back to his house, and now she was hearing it all again.   
  
Besides, all she could concentrate on were the many questions she had to ask Tidus.  
  
Why didn't that kiss count? Did he love her? Would he go back to Spira? Would he  
  
even help her find a way? Did he know who the Fayth was? What had happened to Zed? Why  
  
was Lea all over him? All of these questions popped into her head, in no specific order, and  
  
none of them made too much sense. She just couldn't wait to be alone with him.   
  
At the rate of things, she didn't think they would ever get a moment alone, however, as  
  
more reporters came, and more pictures were taken.  
  
Finally, after about two hours, things calmed down, and it was only Tidus and some  
  
others still discussing the game.  
  
After yet another hour, everybody had either moved on, or was dancing. Something non-  
  
related to the game, anyhow.  
  
"Wanna dance?" Tidus finally asked, but Yuna knew he didn't want to.  
  
"Uh, only if you want to," Yuna said, trying to make it sound as if she really didn't want  
  
to dance either.  
  
"Good, 'cause I'm wiped," he just said, leaning against the wall.  
  
Everything around them was now completely calm, being that the actual party was a  
  
slight ways a way.  
  
Taking a breath, Yuna decided now was the time to ask Tidus some questions. But where  
  
to start? After a few seconds of thought, she decided to start with Zed.  
  
"So, how exactly was Zed injured?" she smiled, decided that talking about Zed was the  
  
perfect way to open up.  
  
"Well, it was about a year ago, and we were playing a game. Then, this big guy came,  
  
and tackled him. But that wasn't the problem. When the guy tackled, Zed tried to dodge him,  
  
but the guy ended up snagging on Zed's head, and it snapped Zed's neck back. It pulled  
  
something, and kind of messed Zed up. It actually broke his neck, but at that moment, Zed didn't  
  
care, so he kept playing. Then, he got knocked out of the pool on an illegal tackle by the same  
  
guy. This time he basically destroyed his leg. They figured he'd be out for a while, and that's  
  
when they realized his neck was broken also. So, he was out for a long time. He tried to come  
  
back, but by then it was a little too late."  
  
"Ouch," Yuna said, "Have you ever gotten a bad injury?"  
  
"Me? Naw, not yet, anyway!" Tidus said, smiling.   
  
A moment of silence passed, as Yuna tried to decide how to bring anything else up. She  
  
didn't realize Tidus was eyeing her over, like he seemed to do often.  
  
"I didn't tell you that you look nice, did I?" Tidus finally said, giving her a cheeky smile.  
  
"Uh..." Yuna felt herself blush.   
  
"And..." Tidus paused, "I'm sorry I haven't been the nicest guy recently. Uh...I've  
  
been...Uh...Stressed, you know, about this game and all. But now that it's over..." He smiled  
  
again at Yuna and took his hand, brushing her hair back.  
  
Yuna couldn't help but relax at his touch. After all, even with his cocky appearance, he  
  
was still the same Tidus under it all, right?  
  
"After a kiss filled with love, he will remember." The Fayth's words were still clear in  
  
Yuna's mind. Maybe now that the Fayth had said it, it would come true? Maybe the first kiss  
  
was just some sort of test?  
  
She didn't worry about having to test it out, however, because before she knew what was  
  
even happening, Tidus had pulled her into a kiss, and thinking of the Fayth's words, Yuna did  
  
her best to make it as passionate as she could manage, receiving a rather passionate response.  
  
The two finally broke off, and Yuna stared into his eyes, praying to see some sort of  
  
recognition– Anything.  
  
"Do you remember anything?" she asked imploringly, after the two stared at each other  
  
for a while.  
  
"Like what?" Tidus just asked.  
  
"You know, Spira, Sin...Me?" Yuna asked, feeling her heart sink.  
  
"Huh?" Tidus just asked, confused, "Oh, you mean your district."  
  
Now Yuna's heart sunk deep. Why didn't he remember? She felt like crying. She  
  
wanted to explain it to him, but he wouldn't understand.   
  
Biting her lip, to keep from crying, she noticed Tidus was looking at her, looking  
  
somewhat confused and worried at the same time.  
  
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked her, and now he just looked more confused than  
  
worried.  
  
Yuna was afraid to speak, for she thought that if she did, her voice would give way and  
  
she would begin to cry.  
  
"Did I say something wrong?" now Tidus looked thoughtful.  
  
"Oh Tidus!" Yuna finally burst out, not caring that it caused a flow of tears, "The Fayth  
  
said that if we kissed, you'd remember everything, but you don't!"   
  
Tidus looked worried again, but didn't really seem as if he had listened to anything she  
  
had said. He kissed her cheek, as if hoping that would cheer her up, but it didn't.  
  
Yuna swallowed hard, trying to make sense out of everything. She had put all of her love  
  
into the kiss. Surely he did too?  
  
"Tidus?" she finally asked, deciding she needed to know that very instant, "Do you love  
  
me?"  
  
Tidus seemed shocked at her answer, and stared into her eyes, as if hoping that would  
  
give him the answer.  
  
"Uh..." he looked away from her, as if in thought, and then smiled and said, "Yeah.   
  
Yuna, I love you."  
  
"Then why isn't it working?" Yuna cried, burying her face in his shoulder.  
  
She felt Tidus smile, and he said, "I don't know? Wanna try again?"  
  
"Okay," Yuna said, and the two kissed again, long and even more passionate than the  
  
first.  
  
"Anything?" Yuna asked hopefully.  
  
"Nope. Not a thing," Tidus said, and went for another kiss. Again, the two kissed.  
  
"Anything?" now Yuna sounded almost helpless.  
  
"Nothing," Tidus said with a shrug.  
  
Yuna wanted to cry. The fayth said it would work, but it wasn't. Why wasn't it?  
  
"Maybe we need to be alone?" Tidus suggested, and it was then that Yuna remembered  
  
that there were people everywhere. She felt embarrassed, and looked up at all of the people,  
  
expecting a camera to flash in her face at any second. No cameras flashed, but she did have to  
  
agree with what Tidus said. Maybe it wouldn't work with all of the people around.  
  
"Can we leave?" Yuna asked.  
  
Tidus smiled and nodded, and Yuna saw him look around, as if looking for someone.   
  
Then he reached out his hand for her to take, and led her out of the door.  
  
The two walked through the almost deserted streets, without really saying much at all.   
  
"So, like, what will happen when I remember?" Tidus asked, although he really didn't  
  
seem to interested in the topic.  
  
"We can find a way back to Spira," Yuna said surely, "And then, you and I can go back to  
  
Spira!"  
  
Tidus stopped. "Whoa, wait a minute, there's no way I'm leaving. Even if this place is  
  
true..."  
  
"Wait, you do believe me though, don't you?" Yuna asked, stopping also.  
  
"Uh..." Tidus looked in thought again, and had a worried expression on his face. Finally,  
  
he looked up at the sky, and sighed, and said, "Yeah, of course I believe you. And you're right.   
  
Once I remember everything that you've told me about, then we'll go back to Spira."  
  
Yuna couldn't have been happier. She had been so worried that he wouldn't want to go  
  
back even when he remembered, and here he was agreeing to go when he didn't remember.  
  
"I'm sure it'll work when we're alone," Yuna expressed this out loud. It just had to.   
  
"Yeah, me to," Tidus said, and Yuna noticed a strange smile appear on Tidus' lips, and  
  
then fade again.  
  
Tidus let go of Yuna's hand and ran ahead, unlocking the door to his house, and walking  
  
in, as Yuna followed behind him.  
  
"Well, we're alone," Tidus said, shutting the door behind him, "Think it'll work now?"  
  
Yuna gave a slow nod. Of course it would! Why wouldn't it? She loved him, he loved  
  
her...What would go wrong? What even could go wrong?  
  
Tidus sat down on a couch, and Yuna sat down next to him, deciding to herself that this  
  
time would be it. This would be when Tidus would remember.  
  
The two leaned together until their lips met, for the fourth time that night. Even if he  
  
didn't remember, Yuna couldn't help but truly enjoy the kisses, and knowing that this one might  
  
just be the one made the kiss even nicer. Before long, Yuna had leaned over on top of Tidus, and  
  
the two were in a somewhat intense make-out.   
  
When they finally broke off, Yuna immediately sat up, feeling somewhat embarrassed,  
  
but at the same time too eager to know if it had worked to allow herself to blush.  
  
She watched his face eagerly, hoping to see some sort of recognition, but none showed on  
  
his face.   
  
"You still don't remember anything, do you?" she asked, sighing and again feeling ready  
  
to cry. Why wasn't it working? Had the Fayth lied? Had she completely imagined the Fayth  
  
from the beginning?  
  
"Sorry," Tidus said with a shrug and a cocky smile, "But we tried, right?"  
  
Yuna felt a tear slip down her face, and she closed her eyes. What would happen if he  
  
never remembered? Trying to swallow the tears, she decided that she'd just have to stay in  
  
Zanarkand with Tidus, forever, whether he could remember what had happened in Spira or not.  
  
"Yuna?" Tidus asked, and Yuna felt him brush off her tears with his finger, "Are you sure  
  
we just had to kiss? There wasn't more to it, or anything?"  
  
Yuna shook her head, but couldn't quite look Tidus in the eyes.  
  
"It's really painful, you know," she said, "to know that you don't remember anything. It's  
  
like we never had even met before I came here."  
  
"I understand," Tidus said, putting one arm around her, and the other around her stomach,  
  
and leaning his head on her shoulder, "Maybe I'll remember with time. You know, like maybe  
  
tomorrow I'll remember?"  
  
Yuna leaned her head against his, and said, "Maybe you're right. After all, the Fayth  
  
didn't say that you'd remember right away or anything."  
  
"So, we'll just have to wait 'till then," Tidus said.   
  
Yuna nodded, and looked up at the clock. It was getting extremely late, and she was  
  
feeling quite tired. She noticed Tidus had closed his eyes. He was probably even more tired than  
  
she, being that he had played a Blitzball game just hours earlier.  
  
"Are you tired?" she asked the Blitzball player.  
  
"A little," he said, not opening his eyes.  
  
"Me too," Yuna said, and the two just sat there, not moving in silence, Yuna still hoping  
  
that Tidus might remember something, anything about Spira. In fact, suddenly Yuna felt  
  
incredibly tired, and looked over at the clock. It was basically the next morning already, being  
  
that it was almost midnight. Feeling drowsy at the thought of being tired, Yuna fell asleep right  
  
there in Tidus' arms.


	12. Falling for a Fan

I've been meaning to change views for a chapter or so, but decided to save it for later. Still,  
here's more of Tidus' point of view instead of Yuna's. Now we'll really see what this Blitzer is  
thinking! Oh, but a little later on in the chapter, it kind of switches back and forth. Don't worry,  
I'll make sure it's not confusing or anything though! Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 11: Falling for a Fan  
  
Two eyelids fluttered, as if they were thinking about opening. However, they figured it  
  
was too early to open at the moment. The eyelids' owner stirred, as if trying to get back to sleep,  
  
but then bumped into someone else's soft body.  
  
The eyelids flew open, revealing two crystal blue eyes. His view was blocked by soft  
  
brown hair, and for a second, he wondered where he was.   
  
He smiled to himself as he remembered. He was asleep on the couch in his living room,  
  
and he must have fallen asleep without even meaning to. Beside him was a still-sleeping Yuna,  
  
who was facing away from him. Her breaths were soft and even, and Tidus noticed his arm was  
  
still around her.  
  
He watched her for a while, wondering if he should get up and leave her there or wake  
  
her up. Finally, he decided he needed some time alone to think, anyway, and he crawled  
  
carefully over her, and into the kitchen.  
  
What was going to do? Of course he didn't remember anything about Spita, or whatever  
  
it was she was always talking about. She was some crazed, obsessed fan. But...Just the same,  
  
Tidus couldn't help but feel rather fond toward her.   
  
No, he had to get any thoughts of becoming sweet on Yuna out of his head. She was just  
  
a girl, a thing. Just a crazed chick who thought he loved her.  
  
Ha, love? Had he ever loved anything in his entire life? Oh yeah, he loved Blitzball,  
  
being number one...  
  
But Yuna. What should he do with her? He paced back in forth in the kitchen, snacking  
  
on a bag of potato chips as he did so. What to do, what to do...  
  
"I could break her heart," he thought to himself, "by simply dumping her like I do anyone  
  
else, but..." He stopped, setting the chips on the table. Why couldn't he force himself to dump  
  
her? It wasn't like Yuna was the first sucker he'd brought into his trap. He'd kissed her, made  
  
out with her, slept with her (even thought that wasn't quite intentional)...What more did he  
  
usually do with a girl? He wouldn't dare think of going any farther. The last thing he needed  
  
was that...  
  
Back and forth he continued to pace, almost nervously. What did it matter to him if he  
  
broke Yuna's heart? She was just a fan, anyway. It wasn't as if she could make him any more  
  
popular. Now Lea on the other hand...  
  
Oh, what to do? He was so into his thoughts, that he didn't notice that he had crept into  
  
the trophy room, and was staring at the many trophies, although not just one in particular.  
  
"Hey!" he heard Yuna's happy voice say, and he turned around. She was still in her dress  
  
from the night before, and he realized that he too, was still in his formal wear.  
  
"Hey," he said back to her, and didn't really mean to sound so depressed.  
  
"Do you remember anything?" Yuna asked with a hopeful tone to her voice.  
  
"No..." Tidus said, looking away from her, being that he couldn't stand to see the  
  
disappointment that he knew would spread to his face.  
  
"Why not?" he heard Yuna moan, and he looked back at her, and she stared at him,  
  
looking quite about to cry.  
  
"Yuna, I'm real sorry. I tried, didn't I?" Tidus was amazed at how harsh he sounded.   
  
Was he grumpy, or angry at her? He didn't know. Right now, however, he didn't want to hear  
  
about her messed up views of him.  
  
"You're right," she just replied sweetly, "You did try. It's not your fault." She smiled up  
  
at him, and Tidus found that he had been hoping that she would get angry in response, and leave.  
  
"Maybe, if we could just find a way back to Spira, when you got there you'd remember.   
  
And then, you wouldn't be a dream anymore, and..." Yuna had started naming things off, almost  
  
as if she was in an incredibly hopeful mood, and she didn't notice how Tidus continued to cringe  
  
at every one of her suggestions.  
  
"Whoa, hold on there!" Tidus said, and decided it was time to be perfectly honest with  
  
Yuna for the time being, "I'm not going to Spira. I'm staying here. I don't believe a single word  
  
you say about your...your weird home!"  
  
Yuna stopped, and stared at Tidus as if she didn't believe a single thing he had just said.   
  
The look in her bi-coloured eyes was the most hurt look Tidus had ever seen. Except in his own  
  
eyes...  
  
"Then why..." Yuna had tears forming in her eyes, "Why did you say that you'd come?   
  
Why did you say that you wanted to remember? Why did you..."  
  
"I lied, okay?" Tidus nearly screamed at the girl, "I do it all the time. Okay?"  
  
Yuna's tears were streaming down her face, but she lifted her chin stubbornly and glared  
  
angrily at Tidus.  
  
"You lied about everything?" she stabbed at him, "Why? Why would you just lie?"  
  
"It's...Really complicated, okay!" Tidus yelled at her, and turned away from her inquiring  
  
glare, "I have a reputation to look after, you know!"  
  
Yuna continued glaring at him, and didn't look very happy at all.   
  
"I should have known!" she finally yelled at him, after the two stood there in silence for a  
  
while, "Uh! I can't believe everything Lea said about you was right! You really did go out with  
  
me just to sleep with me, didn't you? You...But..."   
  
"That's not true!" Tidus shouted back at her, "I didn't even mean to sleep with you! I  
  
didn't pretend to like you because of that!"  
  
"Oh yeah?" Yuna snapped back at him, "Then why did you?"  
  
"Why should I tell you?" Tidus snapped back at Yuna.  
  
"Because you owe it to me!" Yuna snapped back quickly.  
  
"Who says?" Tidus now crossed his arms, wishing she'd just go away. There was no way  
  
he'd tell her why he went out with her in the first place.  
  
"I say," Yuna said, her eyes flashing angrily at him. She stuck her lip out and looked  
  
about to cry again, and turned from Tidus, "Whatever, you're not going to get rid of me that  
  
easily," she just said, and marched off, sitting back down on the couch as if she owned the place.  
  
"Whatever! I can just call security!" Tidus yelled back at her.  
  
Yuna gave him an incredibly large smirk, and said, "Go ahead. I'm not stupid Tidus. I  
  
just figured out why you went out with me."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Tidus asked, folding his arms across his chest, "Why'd I go out with you  
  
then?"  
  
Yuna just smiled, almost sickeningly sweetly, and said, "Let's just say that when word  
  
gets around that you called security on your girlfriend, that I don't think that will make Lea too  
  
jealous."  
  
"Whatdya mean?" Tidus yelled, his blue eyes flashing.  
  
Yuna smiled up at him again, "Just what I said!" She stood up, and walked up to him,  
  
and gave him a shove, "You went out with me for a couple of reasons. One: I was a nut. I was  
  
an easy target for you. Two: I was good-looking and wasn't going to go out with you just for a  
  
night. And three: 'Cause Lea and you had broke up, and you wanted to make her jealous by  
  
going out with me! I should have known the entire time! You only danced with me when she  
  
was around, and you only kissed me when she was around. Why you even made-out with me last  
  
night here is beyond me. But I was stupid, and went along with your plan anyway, being that I  
  
was just too happy to see you." Yuna was crying now, although she still looked quite angry.  
  
Tidus couldn't believe she'd figured him out that easily. He didn't know what to say, or  
  
even what to think. He just watched her cry, deciding he must look quite clueless. Perfect.  
  
"Yuna, that's kind of true, and kind of not true," Tidus said, rubbing the back of his neck,  
  
"Wanna know the whole story?"   
  
She shook her head. "No, I'm tired of your lies!"  
  
She turned around to leave, and Tidus grabbed her arm.  
  
"I'm not letting you leave until you know the truth!" he said to her through clenched  
  
teeth. He didn't want to sound angry, but he was suddenly afraid of losing her.  
  
"Shut-up and let me go!" she yelled, pulling her arm free. Then, she punched him in the  
  
gut, causing him to double over, and she ran out the door.  
  
"Yuna, wait!" Tidus yelled after her, and, clenching his stomach in pain tried to follow  
  
her. However, she was already down the street, and he watched her turn down an alley.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tears were still flowing down her cheeks as she rounded yet another corner, although she  
  
had no clue where she was going. Just away from Tidus, that's all she knew. It couldn't be the  
  
real Tidus. It had to be a different him. Tidus wouldn't be like that. No, he wouldn't. It had to  
  
be some kind of strange dream, or something.   
  
Of course, she knew she was kidding herself. There was no way this was a dream. It was  
  
really and truly happening. Tidus really was a jerk, and he really had played her. Played her as  
  
the fool she was. How could she have possibly been so stupid? Still, even as she was angry at  
  
him in the most unforgiving way, she just wanted to run back to him, embrace him, and hear him  
  
tell her that he didn't mean any of it. Then, together they would find a way back to Spira, and he  
  
would remember anything. Then, they could live happily ever after...  
  
"Who am I kidding," Yuna said out loud to herself, as she rounded another corner, hoping  
  
she wasn't going in circles, "That's not going to happen. It's over. It's all over. No more  
  
Tidus...Ever..."  
  
Again, Yuna felt some more tears slip down her cheeks. They weren't really tears of  
  
sadness, or loneliness, as many of the tears before were, but these were tears of defeat. She had  
  
tried to play the Fayth's game, and she had lost. She had lost Tidus forever.  
  
"No, it's not your fault," Yuna told herself, sighing as she did so, "It's all Tidus'. If he  
  
could only remember!" Again, she thought of the whole deal as a game again.   
  
"Perhaps," she thought to herself, "The Fayth made it so that Tidus couldn't remember,  
  
and made him be a jerk, just to see if I could get him to fall in love with me?"   
  
For all she knew, that could be it. For some reason, however, she didn't want to go back  
  
and try again. She didn't care if she lost. She didn't care at the moment if she got Tidus back or  
  
not. At that moment, the only thing she could think about was going home. Back to Spira. She  
  
had lived a year, actually three years, without Tidus, and she had managed to survive. She didn't  
  
need him. She didn't.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tidus didn't know what to do. His problems were solved, and with just a touch of a  
  
button, he could have Lea back, and all of the publicity that came with it. He didn't know why  
  
being with Lea brought so much publicity, but he figured it had to do with the fact that Lea did so  
  
much for the Abes, being that her father was the head referee. And Tidus supposed that being  
  
that everything in Zanarkand seemed to revolve around Blitzball, and for him, popularity, then  
  
Lea was definitely a smart match for him.  
  
Smiling to himself, he stood up, being that he had been sitting down, and stretched. He  
  
had managed to make Lea so mad, so upset, that now she would come crawling back to him, not  
  
because she'd been dumped by her new guy, but because she had been dumped by Tidus. He had  
  
made a fool out of her. All thanks to Yuna.  
  
"No, don't think about her," Tidus said, rubbing his stomach, thinking about how much  
  
Yuna's punch had hurt, "She was just some good-for-nothing nut, anyway."  
  
Still, he found himself glancing out the window, as if hoping just slightly that he'd see  
  
Yuna coming. Of course, he didn't see her, and he finally just turned away from the window and  
  
plopped himself on the couch, clicking on the sphere, deciding to watch the replay of the night  
  
before's game.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuna was now lost. She had no idea where she was. She looked here and there, trying  
  
desperately hard to distinguish how far away she was from Tidus' place, or from the sphere pool,  
  
or from anyplace that would bring back some sign of recognition. However, she found nothing.   
  
She continued to wander, no longer thinking of Tidus, but thinking of how she was going  
  
to get out of Zanarkand and back to Spira.  
  
Sighing, Yuna finally bent over, and realized it was getting late. She had been wandering  
  
all day, and still had no idea where she was. She sat down on the ground, deciding she was going  
  
to at least come up with a plan of action.  
  
The streets were strangely deserted, but Yuna decided that it must be time for a Blitzball  
  
game or something. Still, it seemed as if there was nobody around, and to Yuna's surprise, she  
  
felt somewhat tense, as if afraid of something. Not only that, but she had the strangest feeling  
  
that she was being followed.  
  
Feeling suddenly strangely alone, and rather frightened, the girl stood up and looked  
  
every way, trying to find somebody, anybody, who looked friendly enough to ask for directions.  
  
She was suddenly so wrapped in her fear of being alone that she didn't notice a group  
  
close in around her. She had sunk to her knees without noticing it, and she finally looked back  
  
up to see many faces looking down at her.  
  
"Oh," she said, quite startled, and immediately stood back up, "Hello...?"  
  
"Hello," one person, who had blazing red, curly hair said, "What're you doing here?"  
  
"Uhm," Yuna said, wondering what it was he was asking her exactly, "Going for a  
  
walk?"   
  
"Hm. A walk here? You lost?" a girl with a tight blonde pony-tail said smugly.  
  
"Uh, yeah, uhm, why not?" Yuna said, suddenly nervous. The whole group, which  
  
consisted of five people, were circling her, looking her over.  
  
The red haired one laughed.   
  
"You sure you're not lost," he said with a slight chuckle, "'Cause you sure look that way  
  
to me."  
  
"Do you know what district you're in?" another girl asked.  
  
"Uh, I'm just in Zanarkand?" Yuna said with a somewhat clueless gesture.  
  
"Look," the pony-tail girl said, smiling, showing off huge dimples, "You an Abe fan,  
  
right?"  
  
Finally feeling that she was getting someplace, Yuna nodded vigorously. "Yes! I'm an  
  
Abe fan! Does anyone know where I can find..."  
  
Once again her voice trailed, for now the group had begun to laugh hard. If Yuna had  
  
been smart, and had known some things about the group, she would have run. However, she  
  
knew nothing, and just continued to stare at them with a clueless look on her face.  
  
"We could tell by the logo on your shirt!" the other girl, a blonde, was saying between  
  
laughs, "And besides, only an Abe fan could dress as stupidly as you are! Everyone knows it's  
  
leather or nothing these days!"  
  
"What's wrong with the way I dress?" Yuna spewed, and then thought better of what she  
  
had said, "And what's wrong with me being an Abe fan?"  
  
"You must have hit your head," the red-haired one said firmly, which shut the rest of his  
  
group up, stopping their laughter, "But we don't care if you did or not, do we?"  
  
The group shook their heads, each with a wicked smile on their face. They were  
  
chuckling a low, evil chuckle, and the red-haired one nodded toward Yuna, with an evil smile to  
  
top all of the rest combined.  
  
"Hey, you're a cute girl," he said, grabbing Yuna's arm, as she tried to pull away, "But  
  
cute or not, you're an Abe fan. And this is District C-South? Duggles only? And we feel it's  
  
our job to take care of Abers like you."  
  
He pulled Yuna up close to him, and the rest of the group surround her. She tugged her  
  
arm, trying to let out of his grasp, and twisted around, only to be faced by the rest of the group.   
  
She had no idea what the group had in store for her, and she was shaking. What was going to  
  
happen to her?


	13. Utterly CloseToo Close

Oh no! What do you know, the end is drawing near folks! I think there may be at least two or  
three more chapters following this one, and this story is going to end slightly different than I had  
originally planned, but oh well, right? Not only that, but I'm kind of attached to this story.   
Maybe I really will make a sequel....? Actually, I'd love to make a sequel, but what in the world of Spira will it be about??? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to come up with something, right? :)Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 12: Utterly Close...Too Close   
  
Yuna decided to try to scream, but before she could, something hit the leader in the back  
  
of the head and he dropped Yuna's arm. The rest of the group turned and faced toward where

theobject had come from.  
  
There, with a cheeky smile on his face, stood Tidus.  
  
"Hey Carrot-Top," Tidus yelled, grabbing the red-haired one by the shirt collar and  
  
pulling him back, "What were you planning on doing to her?"  
  
Yuna smiled at seeing Tidus, and then noticed that the rest of the group had turned  
  
around and taken off, leaving their leader behind.  
  
The red-haired one must have decided to cheek off to Tidus, for he said, "We were gonna  
  
kill her, just like we plan to kill all Abe fans."  
  
Yuna gulped, wondering if what he said was true.  
  
"Oh yeah?" Tidus said, pulling him close to his face, "You better not mess with her  
  
again."  
  
"And you better not enter our territory again," the red-haired boy said, but Yuna could see  
  
him trembling.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you," Tidus said, smiling, and Yuna saw the red-haired boy relax,  
  
"Badly, anyway."  
  
Tidus slugged the boy then, hard, and the red-haired leader staggered backwards and fell  
  
on the ground, babying the area that Tidus had hurt him. He whimpered, looked up at Tidus and  
  
then at Yuna and then ran the same way his group had, as fast as he could  
  
Yuna turned and faced the smiling blonde, surprised that he was there, not to mention  
  
grateful. Who knew what that group would have done to her. Her heart quickened at seeing his  
  
smiling face, but only to remember that he was just a lying player.  
  
"I think you owe me a thanks," Tidus just said, almost cooly.  
  
"Thank you," Yuna just said, looking at the ground, and then wondered how he had even  
  
found her. She didn't dare ask him, though, and, being that she was feeling in a rather stubborn  
  
mood, she decided to just be cold back to him.  
  
"Well, yeah," Tidus just said, shrugging, as if he just didn't like the silence.  
  
"Why did you come after me?" Yuna finally asked, being that she couldn't stand not  
  
knowing.  
  
"Who says I came after you," Tidus snapped at Yuna, and she saw him start to walk  
  
away.  
  
"Wait!" Yuna said, running after him, forgetting everything bad he had ever done to her,  
  
"I...Thank you again for rescuing me."  
  
Tidus looked at her, and then just shook his head. "It was nothing," he said flatly. He  
  
sighed then, and said, "I actually did come after you. Uh...I actually had to seriously track you  
  
down. Man, did you have to cover so much ground? You know how long I've been looking for  
  
you? Not only that, but Yuna, this city isn't exactly safe if you go in the wrong areas!"  
  
"I'm sorry," Yuna just said, but wondered why she was apologizing. If anyone deserved  
  
an apology, it was her, and she was sticking to that.  
  
"Look, it's all my fault," Tidus said, which amazed Yuna, "And besides, this isn't really a  
  
bad part of the city." Tidus smiled to himself, and Yuna wondered why. It was the same smile  
  
she had seen him smile numerous times, and Yuna wondered what it was he was even smiling  
  
about.  
  
"Anyway," Tidus said finally, after shaking off the smile, "That red-haired guy. Do you  
  
even know who he is?"  
  
Yuna shook her head. Of course she didn't know who he was!   
  
"That's this leader of some anti-Abes clan. But beyond that..." Tidus stopped, and looked  
  
Yuna over, as if debating on something, "He doesn't usually patrol this area. I don't think he just  
  
decided to kill you on the spot. He was sent by somebody." Tidus laughed, "Or maybe I'm just  
  
paranoid!"  
  
"What do you mean?" Yuna asked. He was sent by somebody? Tidus wasn't making any  
  
sense at all.  
  
"Look," Tidus finally continued, "That red-haired guy. That's Lea's cousin. Unless I  
  
truly am some paranoid freak, which I guess could be right, I think Lea sent him."  
  
Yuna shivered. What if Tidus hadn't come? That group obviously had been following  
  
her for a while, for she suddenly recalled feeling as if someone was following. They must have  
  
just been waiting for a deserted area to do their deed in.  
  
Tidus sighed, as if wishing he didn't have to say something, but said it anyway.  
  
"Yuna, are you okay?"  
  
She hadn't noticed until then that she was crying, and that she wanted to run up to Tidus,  
  
throw her arms around him and let him kiss away all of her fears. She couldn't though, and it  
  
was tearing her heart up.  
  
"I didn't think Lea would sink that low," Tidus said then, and blushed, "You see, I was on  
  
my way to see her, actually, but...Well..."  
  
"Well what?" Yuna asked through her tears, wondering if Tidus' rambles were supposed  
  
to make sense to her.  
  
"I kind of was...Worried about you, Yuna," Tidus said, and blushed again, as if ashamed  
  
by his words, "So, I decided to try and find you, to you know, make sure you were okay."  
  
"Well thank you," Yuna said cooly, forgetting her tears, "But I must be off again. I need  
  
to find a way back to my home." She didn't know what she was doing. How could she still be  
  
angry at Tidus? She knew that no matter what he did, she would always love him. No, she  
  
wouldn't! Turning away from him, she continued on.  
  
Tidus watched her, he blue eyes never leaving her, and Yuna could feel his stare at her  
  
back. Biting her lip to keep from crying, she continued walking away from him, praying that  
  
Tidus would call her back, something.  
  
He didn't do anything, just continued to stare at her, as if expecting her to come back to  
  
him. Little did she know that waiting for her to turn around was exactly what he was doing.  
  
Sighing, she just continued walking, and finally turned around, only to see him walking  
  
away from him. She turned back around, just as he turned around to look at her again. The two  
  
continued this for a while, each walking and turning, just as soon as the other turned back from  
  
them.  
  
Finally, Yuna turned around again, but Tidus was no longer in sight. He was gone.   
  
Forever.  
  
Tears spewed from Yuna's eyes, and without even meaning to, she ran back in the  
  
direction Tidus was heading.  
  
SLAM! The next thing she knew, she ran into something, and was about knocked over  
  
backwards when strong arms caught her behind the back and kept her from hitting the ground.  
  
"Watch where you're running!" she heard a voice say with laughter in it. Her heart leapt  
  
at the owner of the voice. It was Tidus.  
  
"You watch it!" she smiled at the laughter in his voice, and he pulled her up, being that  
  
she was leaning far into his arms, almost touching the ground.  
  
"Well, I wasn't really running back for you..." Tidus said, but Yuna saw that he had a  
  
smile on his face.  
  
"And I wasn't running back for you," Yuna said, smiling also.  
  
"Yeah, sure," Tidus just said.  
  
"Are you sure you weren't running back for me?" Yuna asked, concealing a smile. She  
  
had forgotten that she was terribly angry at him, and she was now more determined than ever not  
  
to lose him. He had changed already, she could tell. He no longer gazed at her as if he was  
  
planning something, but gazed at her somewhat affectionately. Still, Yuna could sense that  
  
something about his gaze was off.  
  
"Yuna," he said, in the most serious tone she had ever heard from him, as he ran his  
  
fingers through her silky hair, "You know I could never love you..."  
  
Of course, she had been expecting something from him.  
  
"Just because I'm "a fan"?" Yuna asked, feeling annoyed, backing away from him,  
  
feeling all of her anger return.  
  
Tidus bowed his head. "Yeah. I mean, it just can't happen."  
  
"What about your mom?" Yuna asked, "Was she some Lea? Didn't your parents love  
  
each other?"  
  
Tidus gave her the strangest look, as if saying, "How dare you bring them up!", but then  
  
just looked away from her.  
  
"Things were different then," he finally said, although he still didn't look back at her.  
  
"How so?" Yuna asked, crossing her arms, trying hard to conceal her annoyance with the  
  
Blitzer.  
  
"They just were!" he said, making Yuna feel even more annoyed with his attitude. And  
  
here she had thought that she had finally won him.  
  
"Are you sure it's not all in your head?" Yuna snapped at him, finally allowing her  
  
annoyance to show.  
  
"Look, popularity is everything to me!" Tidus said, crossing his arms stubbornly.  
  
"Oh, I understand," Yuna said, turning away from him and walking, "You're just some  
  
stuck-up jock who thinks the world revolves around you, right? But yet you can't go out with  
  
just anybody, because it'll ruin your reputation. But you don't even know if it will? So the press  
  
likes it with you're with Lea because of who-knows-why, but that's what makes you happy.   
  
Tidus, I really thought you'd changed. I mean," Yuna began to tear again, "You did come  
  
running back for me."  
  
Tidus looked somewhat hurt, as if what Yuna said had stabbed him in the back.  
  
"I didn't want to be like this," he said, "But...Things happen. Goodbye Yuna."  
  
"Goodbye Tidus," Yuna said, deciding that she would just have to get used to that  
  
loneliness that was forever in her heart, because even if Tidus did love her, he was never going to  
  
admit it. No matter what happened.  
  
Tidus nodded to her, and looked surprisingly sad, almost anguished. He just stood there,  
  
watching her as she left again, as if thinking to himself.  
  
"You know you're doing the wrong thing, don't you?" Yuna had to ask him, as she turned  
  
around, staring into his eyes.  
  
Tidus looked at the ground, but Yuna could tell that he had given her a nod. He agreed  
  
with her.  
  
Suddenly, Yuna got an idea. She ran up to him, and took his hands, looking into his  
  
sorrowful eyes.  
  
"Tidus," she said, almost breathless, being that she was in such deep hope, "I love you.   
  
And...I understand that you can't be with me. But, can we just kiss? Just one last time, before I  
  
leave?"  
  
She knew he loved her. He had to love her. And she knew, that with just one kiss that  
  
was full of love, he would remember. And if he remembered, she knew he'd forget his  
  
selfishness, and find a way back to Spira with her.  
  
Tidus looked into her eyes for a while, and then closed his eyes. She closed hers, and the  
  
two leant together, Yuna waiting to feel his lips against hers. Her heart was throbbing. She was  
  
sure this would be it. This would be the last kiss they would need before Tidus would remember  
  
everything.  
  
"Oh Tidus!" a sweet voice said, causing Tidus to bring his head back just as their lips  
  
were about to meet.  
  
Yuna's eyes flashed open, and she felt terribly angry for having their kiss interrupted.   
  
This was going to be it! She was so sure of it, and now she had been interrupted.  
  
Without even looking at the voice's owner, she knew who it was, though. It was Lea,  
  
who else?  
  
"Oh Tidus!" she cooed, "I thought we were back together? Or is this just one of your  
  
stupid plots?"  
  
Tidus stared at Lea, and then back at Yuna, who was giving him an imploring look, as if  
  
begging him to forget Lea and kiss her.  
  
"Oh, and Yuna," Lea said, walking between Yuna and Tidus, "I heard that my cousin  
  
threatened you earlier? I'm so sorry about that! What can I say, not everybody can be perfect,  
  
even if they are in my family!" Lea laughed, and put her arms around Tidus, making Yuna feel  
  
sick.  
  
Tidus continued staring at Yuna, however, as in thought. Yuna watched him back, still  
  
giving him the same imploring look.  
  
However, completely smashing all of Yuna's hopes, Tidus in return put his arms around  
  
Lea, and broke his gaze off of Yuna.  
  
Lea gave Yuna her winning smile, and Yuna watched as the two kissed, a kiss that Tidus  
  
and Yuna should have shared.  
  
With tears streaming down her face, Yuna stole one glance at Tidus, who was too busy  
  
kissing Lea to even know, and then Yuna ran off toward the sea, deciding she knew exactly what  
  
it was she was going to do.  
  
If she couldn't have Tidus, then there would be no more reason for her to go on. What  
  
would be the need to go back to Spira, to the loneliness of life there? Words spoken three years  
  
ago by the one she hated the most crept into her brain, as she continued running toward the sea,  
  
knowing that she had indeed lost.  
  
"Death is a sweet slumber...Death is where I can be happy!" Yuna thought, as she made  
  
her way closer and closer to the sea, "Seymour, who would have thought you were right? Death  
  
really would be sweet..."


	14. One Last Tear

Sorry it took me a while to update-I got a case of mild writer's block halfway through this chapter! Oh well, right? Okay, here's chapter thirteen, and from the looks of things, chapter fourteen is going to be the last chapter! And as for the sequel...It might be a while 'till I get that out, being that I still need to come up with a plot! (Think, think, think!!!:) Anyway, here's chapter 13, enjoy!

Chapter 13: One Last Tear  
  
Yuna lowered herself into the salty water, not really wanting to die from drowning  
  
herself, but felt that it was truly the only way.   
  
Pictures flashed through her mind, of Tidus and her first kiss, His disappearance the first  
  
time, his reappearance, his second disappearance, seeing him again, and finally, him kissing Lea.   
  
She held her breath, and ducked her head underwater, opening her eyes although the salt  
  
stung. She didn't want to die in complete darkness, after all.  
  
She knew that tears were slipping down her face, even though she was underwater. They  
  
were making her vision even more blurred, and she prepared to breath in the salty water,  
  
preparing to die.  
  
She was just about to take that underwater breath, her last breath, when she noticed  
  
something sparkle as the setting sun.  
  
"What's that?" Yuna thought, noticing the sparkle. She forgot all about what it was she  
  
was doing in the water, and she swam down to the sparkle, and noticed that it was a sphere.  
  
She picked it up carefully, almost afraid to push the play-back button, because she knew  
  
exactly what sphere it was. It was the same kind that had transferred her to Zanarkand in the first  
  
place. This would be the one that would transfer her back to Spira. She was too certain of it.  
  
Feeling herself suddenly grow in need of air, Yuna surfaced, suddenly feeling glad that  
  
she hadn't done anything drastic or rash. What if she had really gone with killing herself? She  
  
shuddered at the idea and walked onto the beach, plopping herself down in the sand, and looking  
  
the sphere over, afraid of it transporting her back to Spira. She didn't know why it mattered, it  
  
wasn't as if she would be getting Tidus back, no matter how close they had come.  
  
How could Tidus really be so selfish? Yuna dug into the sand angrily with her hand, and  
  
carefully tucked the sphere away with her, deciding that she wasn't ready to go back to Spira.   
  
Whether she was with Tidus or not, she wanted desperately to see the sunrise, even if it would be  
  
basically her way of saying goodbye to Tidus.  
  
It was now dark, and Yuna hugged, herself, rocking in a slightly chilly wind, realizing  
  
how much it truly reminded her of being home in Besaid, when she whistled every night for  
  
Tidus.  
  
Tears slipped slowly down her cheeks for what seemed like the hundredth time of the  
  
day.   
  
"Welcome to your life," she told herself, as she rocked, "It's going to be a lonely one."  
  
Again, terrible thoughts spewed into her sad head, as she wondered if Seymour's words  
  
really would be true, that death was the only way to escape sorrow.  
  
She lay her head on her knees, staring into the darkness, trying hard not to think of how  
  
much she was reminding herself of how she spent her evenings in Besaid.  
  
More tears came, and she tried hard to ignore them, to forget about Tidus. To forget  
  
about everything.   
  
But how could she? She couldn't, and she never would be able to. No matter what  
  
happened, she would never be able to forget Tidus. Even when he was a total jerk, she couldn't  
  
just forget about him.  
  
Without even realizing it, she began to sing the hymn again, the one that she seemed to  
  
hate so much.   
  
She hummed it somewhat loud, as if trying to let the hymn soak out all of her feelings.   
  
However, like it usually did, the hymn only brought more tears.  
  
She closed her eyes, letting tears stream, but jumped when she felt someone wipe them  
  
off with a soft swipe of their finger.  
  
Her eyes burst open, to see Tidus kneeling next to her.  
  
"Get away from me!" she screamed.  
  
"Hey!" he said, holding her flailing arms down, "I just wanted to talk, okay?"  
  
"I'm tired of it!" Yuna yelled, standing up, "Your lies, your...your..."  
  
"Sh..." Tidus said, taking her hand, and pulling her into an embrace, "I told Lea to get  
  
lost. I'm not kidding. You can go ask her for yourself, if you don't believe me."  
  
"I'm not falling for it!" Yuna said loudly, although she didn't try to pull away from him.  
  
"It's true though," Tidus said softly, "In fact, it's going to take a bit of makeup to cover  
  
the mark I probably left on her face..."  
  
"You hit her?" Yuna asked, feeling alarmed.  
  
"Yeah, after she slapped me," Tidus said, rubbing his cheek, and Yuna could just barely  
  
make out a red mark across Tidus' cheek, "But man, she really deserved it!"  
  
"Oh..." Yuna said, rubbing Tidus' cheek gently.  
  
"Anyway," Tidus said, "I came back to say that I'm sorry. Even if you are a fan...And  
  
even if you are a..." Yuna knew he was going to say "nut", but he stopped, and looked her in the  
  
eyes.  
  
"I know you're not making Spira up," he finally said, "That song you were humming. It's  
  
really familiar."  
  
"Do you remember it from Spira?" Yuna asked anxiously.  
  
"No, my old man used to sing it," Tidus said, "But I know I've heard it from somewhere  
  
else, I just can't remember where."  
  
Yuna felt tears threatening to fall. Was Tidus saying that he could vaguely remember  
  
hearing the hymn of the Fayth in Spira?  
  
"Anyway," Tidus said, shaking his head, "The truth of the matter is, is that I love you. I  
  
have since earlier today. I mean, you're right, at first I was just pretending to like you, 'cause I  
  
wanted to make Lea jealous. But you know, I don't know, I felt, different, around you. And  
  
then, when I was on my way to Lea's earlier, I realized that I liked you more than just...Than just  
  
like. And so I traced you down. But then...I let my stupid ego get the best of me, and...And I  
  
chose Lea over you."  
  
"Then what?" Yuna asked him.  
  
"I told her that I loved you," Tidus said, smiling, "And then she slapped me, so I hit her.   
  
Not that hard or anything...Just hard enough."  
  
The two stood there for some time, Tidus' arms around her waist and her right arm  
  
around his neck, while her left hand was still on his cheek.  
  
Then, as if they were making sure there were no interruptions, they leaned in for a kiss,  
  
and as their lips met, Yuna felt one last tear slip down her cheek.  
  
Their kiss was a simple one, but definitely the most magical one Yuna had ever shared  
  
with Tidus. The two separated, and Tidus stared into Yuna's eyes for some time, and Yuna had  
  
basically even forgotten that he didn't remember Spira.  
  
Tidus stared at her for some time, and then Yuna saw tears stream from his face, and he  
  
embraced her hard.  
  
"Yuna!" he said, holding her tight, "I...I remember! I mean, it's all like back to me!   
  
Everything! I...Whoa, I am so sorry!" he let go of her, and Yuna stared at him, not knowing what  
  
to say. He remembered. It was the moment she had been waiting for since she had arrived in  
  
Zanarkand. He really did remember.  
  
"I'm sorry," Tidus finally said, sitting down on the sand, "I acted like a total jerk."  
  
"You did," Yuna said, sitting down, "But I knew the real Tidus was in there someplace."  
  
"Naw," Tidus said, "The Tidus you saw was the real Tidus. I don't know, I guess that's  
  
what happens when you let fame go to your head, know what I mean?"  
  
Yuna nodded, as if she understood. "Did you know that when you disappeared, you  
  
wouldn't remember me?" Yuna asked, looking into the water that crashed onto the shore.  
  
"Yeah. I...I tried to tell you, but then I..." Tidus looked straight ahead, as if in thought,  
  
"You know, the first time I saw you, here in Zanarkand, I thought you looked kind of familiar,  
  
but pushed that thought out of my head, and continued on being a jerk. And then when you  
  
whistled...It made me feel like I was supposed to be somewhere, like I was supposed to be  
  
protecting someone. Again, I just pushed that thought out of my head too."  
  
Tidus smiled at her, and Yuna smiled back at him. She couldn't help but realize how  
  
even though Tidus could remember everything, there was still a strange awkwardness between  
  
the two.  
  
"So, what are you doing here?" Tidus finally asked, after a moment of silence.  
  
Yuna wondered for a few seconds if she should allow Tidus to know what her true  
  
intentions had been, but then decided against it.  
  
"Well, I found this," Yuna said, bringing out the sphere carefully, "I believe this is what  
  
could get us back to Zanarkand. And then, I decided I'd watch the sunrise, as a way of saying  
  
"goodbye" to you before I left."  
  
"The sunrise, huh?" Tidus asked, smiling, "You know why I ever brought that up?"  
  
"Why?" Yuna asked.  
  
"'Cause at the Mi'ihen Highroad, you know, after I first became your guardian, you were  
  
watching the sunset, and you said how it was peaceful. After that I tried to think of how  
  
Zanarkand was ever peaceful. And then I remembered watching the sunrise. So, that night at  
  
Macalania, I told you about it."  
  
Yuna smiled, and pretty soon the two were engulfed in a conversation about their journey  
  
to defeat Sin, and Yuna told Tidus of her life after he disappeared the second time, and Tidus told  
  
her his.  
  
"When I disappeared, I awoke here, and it was as if nothing had even happened over the  
  
years I was gone. No Sin attacked, no nothing. Not that I even remembered Sin's attack or  
  
anything..." Tidus said, looking up at the sky. He stared up at the sky thoughtfully and said,  
  
"Wanna know my favorite thing about Spira? I like how you can always see the stars. The only  
  
time we get to see 'em in Zanarkand is right before the lights go off. But in Spira, they're always  
  
there."  
  
"I love Zanarkand," Yuna said after another moment of silence, "But you know what?   
  
Shinra was talking about how in generations to come, Spira could be just like Zanarkand. But I  
  
don't know if I want that. Especially now that Sin's gone, everything seems so...peaceful."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tidus said, "Spira's nice in that sense. Everything's not  
  
so much of a city bustle."  
  
Yuna nodded her agreement, feeling glad that Tidus agreed with her.   
  
Tidus continued chatting away about other things, about the Blitzball game the night  
  
before, and what Yuna thought about the stadium. Yuna admitted that being in Zanarkand was  
  
seriously a dream come true, even if Tidus had acted like a total jerk the entire time.  
  
Tidus continually apologized, and Yuna accepted his apology each and every time, even  
  
though it still bugged her that he had caused her to almost end her life.  
  
"Something the matter?" Tidus asked, as he noticed Yuna had a morbid look in her eyes.  
  
"No, it's nothing," Yuna said, not really wanting Tidus to even know that if it hadn't been  
  
for the sphere, she wouldn't be sitting there now.  
  
"You sure?" Tidus asked, and Yuna looked into his caring face.  
  
"No, nothing's wrong," Yuna said, and as she looked at his face, she really could believe  
  
those words.  
  
"Okay, if you're sure," Tidus said slowly, and looked around, and Yuna guessed he was  
  
growing bored of sitting there, waiting patiently for the sunrise.  
  
"How much longer?" Yuna asked, deciding that they must have talked for quite some  
  
time, and that the sunrise couldn't be too far off.  
  
"Don't know," Tidus said, lying back in the sand, and lying his head in his arms, "Wake  
  
me up when it comes, okay?"  
  
"No, you wake me up!" Yuna argued jokingly, as she too lay back into the sand, "You're  
  
the one who lives in a city that never sleeps!"   
  
"Not my fault," Tidus yawned, "Besides, I'm tired and I've had a long day."  
  
"Oh sure, and I haven't!" Yuna said, staring up at the sky, not knowing how she would  
  
possibly be able to fall asleep if she tried with the many lights that lit up the sky. She yawned  
  
too, deciding that she was extremely tired, but was afraid to fall asleep. After all, now she was  
  
beginning to grow truly concerned that everything had been a dream after all.  
  
"Do you think it will be soon?" Yuna asked, staring hopelessly toward the dark horizon,  
  
as if growing impatient herself. She looked over at Tidus, who had been lying there soundless,  
  
and wondered if he had truly fallen asleep.  
  
"Uhh..." Tidus made a grunting noise, as if he was trying to block her out, "Don't  
  
know..."  
  
"Are you really going to sleep?" Yuna asked, wondering how he did it with the many  
  
lights.  
  
"You bet I am," Tidus answered drowsily.  
  
Smiling to herself, Yuna gathered up a handful of sand, and dumped it all over his head,  
  
causing him to sit up quickly and shake his head.  
  
"Hey! What was that for?" he asked, trying to shake the sand out of his blonde hair,  
  
"What'd I ever do to you?"  
  
"To many things," Yuna reminded him jokingly, as he grabbed a fistful of sand and flung  
  
it at her, although it missed her completely.  
  
"Good thing your aim is better in Blitzball!" Yuna teased him, as she scooped up some  
  
more sand and threw it at him, causing him to stand up quickly. He bent down, scooping up  
  
more sand, and ran after Yuna, threatening to throw it.  
  
"Ha! Gotchya!" Tidus said, laughing as the many sand particles landed in Yuna's hair.  
  
"You Meanie!" Yuna yelled at him, surprised at how often she used Rikku's words.   
  
However, as she was scooping down to get more sand, a large sound was heard as one of the  
  
giant machina buildings turned off its lights.  
  
"Hey, it's almost time!" Tidus shouted, dropping the sand that was clenched in his fist  
  
and running over to Yuna, "Come on!" He grabbed her hand and the two made their way over to  
  
the water's edge, just as another light went out.  
  
"Look," Tidus said, pointing to the sky, "See how you can see the stars now?"  
  
"Oh yeah!" Yuna said, staring at the stars, wondering if they were the exact same stars  
  
that were seen in Spira.   
  
More lights went out, one-by-one, revealing more and more glittering stars. However,  
  
just as the last lights went out, the stars also began to fade, and the sky relit itself.  
  
The horizon began to glow a pinkish color, which in return caused the few remaining  
  
stars to disappear. Pretty soon, the rose-color reached its way into the sky, and very soon the  
  
entire city was hit by the gorgeous light, causing the entire city to glow and sparkle, which was  
  
even more amazing than the stars.  
  
"It's so beautiful," Yuna exclaimed dreamily, as the bright sun began to rise in the sky.   
  
She leaned back, but the sphere that was tucked away slipped out and began to roll ominously  
  
toward the water.  
  
"Oh no!" Yuna shouted, and leapt on top of the sphere to keep it from rolling. However,  
  
without meaning to, she leant on the play-back button, and was again blinded by a white light.   
  
She closed her eyes to shield them from the light, and she knew what was happening. She was  
  
being transferred back to Spira. But Tidus...He had been so far away when she had pressed the  
  
button.  
  
Uttering a terrified scream, Yuna went deeper into the light, feeling almost certain that  
  
the Blitzball player hadn't made it with her.


	15. Dancing the Night Away

Here's the last chapter! Actually, that's kind of a bad thing...Well, I've really enjoyed writing  
this story like you couldn't believe, and so yes, I will make a sequel. I'm going to be titling it,  
"Journey After Remembrance"! As for the plot, I think I have it kind of figured out how I'm  
going to do it, but it's going to be totally different from this one, and is going to be somewhat  
random at first, but I think in the end it might be a pretty decent story. It's going to be based on  
these weird dreams I had once, and the ending might be rather surprising! (Actually, if it ends  
like my dream did, it might be just a little sad!) No worries though, I'm not too into tragedy  
stories, so nothing too sad. Oopsie, there I go rambling on again! Well, I just wanted to thank all  
of you that reviewed, and inu1lover, you don't need to review the same thing ten times. Once is  
enough! Do you really think I'd try to disappoint you guys? Anyway, just thanks again for all of  
the reviews, it really made this story what it is. Okay, here's the last chapter, (FINALLY!) and I  
hope you enjoy it! (Don't forget to watch for the sequel!) Oh, which reminds me, this chapter is  
short, for my standards, anyway, but I'm too excited to get to work on my sequel! It's kind of  
more like an epilogue kind of thing anyway. Oh well, you can finally start reading the chapter!   
So, please enjoy and tell me what you thought of my story overall!   
  
Chapter 14: Dancing the Night Away  
  
The light ended, making Yuna feel somewhat dizzy, and Yuna found herself surrounded  
  
by darkness, and for a while wondered where she was. She recognized quickly that she was in  
  
water, but she was quite unaware of where exactly she was.   
  
She swam up to the surface, taking a deep breath, being that she suddenly felt extremely  
  
out of breath. She looked around, hoping terribly to find Tidus.   
  
It was dark, and she could hear noises from behind her, causing her to turn around and  
  
realize that she was in Luca, in the exact same place she had been before going to Zanarkand.   
  
She was suddenly aware that someone had resurfaced behind her, and she turned around

swiftly, praying that it'd be Tidus.  
  
"Giving up?" Yuna's heart sank as she realized that it wasn't Tidus at all, but the cocky  
  
Blitzball player Quell.  
  
"Huh?" Yuna said, looking around. It seemed to her that she was in the exact place she  
  
had been before going to Zanarkand. Had it really all been a dream?  
  
"What's wrong?" Quell asked, sweetly, swimming closer to Yuna.  
  
"I'm tired of phony sweet voices!" Yuna yelled, finding that she had tears streaming  
  
down her face. She couldn't believe it had really all been a dream.   
  
"Are all summoners weird, or is it just you?" Quell asked, and Yuna decided she didn't  
  
care if he caught her. What did it matter anyway?  
  
"You wouldn't even be here if I weren't popular," Yuna said, facing Quell, "Don't you  
  
realize it's not all about popularity?"  
  
She almost laughed. So this is what irony really was. She had gone to Zanarkand, where  
  
the star Blitzball player would only go for the most popular girl, and now she was back in Spira,  
  
where for once, she was the most popular girl, and the Blitzball player wanted her. If only it had  
  
been like that in Zanarkand...  
  
"That didn't happen," Yuna reminded herself silently.  
  
"So anyway, you goin' out with me or not?" Quell said, sounding angry, "Or am I gonna  
  
have to force you to."  
  
"Force her to do what?"   
  
Yuna turned around at the voice, wondering where it had come from. Quell turned  
  
around too, looking every way and finally yelling, "Who's there?"  
  
"Me!" Yuna saw something splash, and take Quell under.   
  
"Oh my goodness!" Yuna gasped, putting her hands over her mouth wondering what was  
  
in the water that had just taken Quell under.  
  
She saw Quell emerge from the water, and was swimming toward Luca as fast as he  
  
could, with poor Yuna still floating there, wondering what was going on.  
  
"He was botherin' you, wasn't he?" Yuna turned around to see the smiling face of Tidus.  
  
"You made it!" Yuna cried, swimming over to him, "I was afraid you didn't...Uhm, and  
  
was afraid I had dreamt all of Zanarkand."  
  
"Nope, I'm here!" Tidus said, "After you left, the sphere was still there, so I just had to  
  
push the play-back button. It took me a while to figure it out, that's what took me so long."  
  
"What did you do to Quell?" Yuna asked breathlessly, realizing that she had been  
  
treading water the entire time, "Tell me when we get back on land, okay?" She started off in the  
  
direction that Quell had swum off to, with Tidus on her trail.  
  
"Slow down!" Tidus moaned, "I'm tired!"  
  
"I thought you were the star Blitzball player!" Yuna teased, and sped up.  
  
"Where are we anyway?" Tidus asked, as he swum up next to Yuna.  
  
"Luca," Yuna said, "There's a party. It seems as if time didn't pass while I was in  
  
Zanarkand. You see, I found the sphere while Quell was chasing me, and then I was transported  
  
to Zanarkand. When I came back here, I was in the exact same place I'd been when I was  
  
transported."  
  
"So that guy was giving you trouble," Tidus said to himself, "What he want with you,  
  
anyway?"  
  
"Same thing you wanted with Lea," Yuna replied courtly, sighing as she said this, "It's  
  
sad it comes down to that, know what I mean?"  
  
"Sure, sad," Tidus said, suppressing a smile as he said, "But why do you think I like you,  
  
Yuna? 'Cause your popular!"  
  
Yuna playfully smacked Tidus in the arm, giving him a glare, although her smile gave it  
  
away that she wasn't truly angry at him.  
  
"As for that creep," Tidus explained, as the two reached land, "I didn't do anything to  
  
him but scare him. He's a big wimp. Good thing he doesn't Blitz or anything..."  
  
"But he does," Yuna put in, smiling.  
  
"He won't last long," Tidus just said, and took Yuna's hand, "So, what are we doing in  
  
Luca?"  
  
Yuna explained to him about Rikku taking her to the party, and how Rikku had expected  
  
her to find someone to replace Tidus.  
  
"Dang, looks like I haven't found anyone to replace you!" Yuna exclaimed when she was  
  
finished, and put her hand up by her forehead, "Now let's see, where could I find someone to  
  
replace you?"  
  
"Tease all you want," Tidus said, "You know there's no replacing me!"  
  
"Whatever," Yuna just said, taking Tidus' hand, "Well, let's go thank Rikku. If it hadn't  
  
been for her, you wouldn't be here now."  
  
"Okay!" Tidus said, dragging Yuna along as he followed the music, "But since when has  
  
Luca had big parties? Did they have these the last time I was here?"  
  
"Remember," Yuna reminded him, "A lot of things have changed since you were here."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Tidus said, as if he was feeling badly about something.  
  
"Yunie!" the two turned as Yuna's blonde cousin came running up to them, her arms  
  
flailing as she did so, "No way! You...Hey! You're back!"   
  
Rikku smiled fondly at Tidus, and said, "See, I told you this party thing was a good idea!   
  
But, how? When? Explain everything to me!" The Al Bhed girl was now jumping excitedly,  
  
and had grabbed both Tidus and Yuna's hands and was running toward a bench, dragging them  
  
along, "Now come on! Explain!"  
  
"Glad you haven't changed," Tidus said, although the sarcasm in his voice was quite  
  
obvious.  
  
"You're a Meanie, you know that?" Rikku said, sticking her tongue out at him.  
  
"Yeah, Yuna told me I was too," Tidus said, smiling.  
  
"Anyway," Rikku said, her smile reappearing, "Tell me everything! And where have you  
  
been Missy?" Rikku crossed her arms at Yuna, and Yuna smiled, knowing that to Rikku, she'd  
  
only been gone maybe an hour, while really, Yuna had been gone for nearly four to five days.  
  
"Well," Yuna said, smiling, "Let's just say I had a run-in with a city called...Uh,  
  
Zanarkand!"  
  
"What?" Rikku practically yelled, causing people walking past to stare at the three.  
  
"Well," with a smile toward Tidus, Yuna explained everything she could, minus some  
  
certain events.  
  
"Wow, you really are a Meanie!" Rikku said, punching Tidus lightly in the arm.  
  
Tidus didn't smile at the intended joke, and Yuna took his hand as if to reassure him that  
  
it was fine.  
  
"You came through in the end," Yuna said softly to Tidus, as Rikku said she was going to  
  
get a hold of everybody to tell them the good news, "And that's what matters."  
  
Yuna kissed him lightly on the cheek, and stood up, bringing Tidus with him.  
  
"Now come on, let's enjoy the night while we can!" Yuna said, and Tidus smiled, as he  
  
led the way to the dance floor.  
  
Music blared and people were everywhere, but as Tidus looked up at the stars, he  
  
couldn't help but feel as if everything were peaceful. And perfect.   
  
"I'm glad to be back," he said finally, after staring in thought at the stars.  
  
"I'm glad too," Yuna said, staring into the stars.  
  
And with that, the two danced the night away, ignoring the curious Al Bhed, who  
  
implored them with more and more questions as soon as she returned from telling everybody  
  
about Tidus' return.  
  
THE END


End file.
